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Key insights
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Regulatory action followed large-scale disruptions: DGCA reduced IndiGo’s winter flights by 10% after early-December cancellations and delays affected over 3 lakh passengers, and later imposed ₹22.20 crore in fines and issued executive warnings.
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Slot vacating concentrated at major hubs and specific months: Of 717 vacated slots, 364 were at six metro airports, with Hyderabad and Bengaluru seeing the most; the vacated slots were concentrated in January and March, with far fewer in February.
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What happened
Sources said IndiGo vacated 717 slots across domestic airports for the January–March period after DGCA curtailed the airline’s winter flights by 10% due to operational disruptions in early December. Of the 717 slots, 364 were from six metro airports—Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad—with the highest number from Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Slot reductions were uneven across months, with 361 vacated in January, 43 in February, and 361 in March, per source data. notes that between December 3 and 5, IndiGo cancelled 2,507 flights and delayed 1,852, affecting over 3 lakh passengers. DGCA also announced fines totaling ₹22.20 crore on January 17 and warned CEO Pieter Elbers and two other senior executives for lapses. IndiGo’s winter schedule for 2025–26 allowed 15,014 flights per week (2,144 per day).