Airfares Shoot Up To ₹70,000 As IndiGo Cancellations Trigger Nationwide Travel Chaos
Domestic airfares across key Indian routes have surged sharply—reaching up to ₹70,000 on the Bengaluru-Delhi sector—after widespread IndiGo flight cancellations left thousands stranded.
A massive wave of IndiGo flight cancellations across India has caused domestic airfares to skyrocket, leaving passengers scrambling for last-minute alternatives at exorbitant rates. Data from online travel platforms like MakeMyTrip, Goibibo and EaseMyTrip shows fares doubling for same-day travel from major cities including Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai.
Around 5pm, MakeMyTrip displayed the cheapest Delhi–Bengaluru fare at nearly ₹40,000, while Bengaluru–Delhi tickets touched an astonishing ₹70,000 for the same day. Prices gradually decline over the next few days, dropping to ₹37,571 on Sunday and plunging to nearly ₹11,000 by Monday, eventually settling at ₹7,173 the following weekend.
Routes to other major cities reflected similar spikes. Delhi–Mumbai travellers for December 6 faced fares starting at ₹36,107 and going above ₹56,000. Return fares to Delhi ranged between ₹23,000 and ₹37,000. Last-minute Delhi–Chennai tickets surged to ₹62,000–82,000, while Delhi–Guwahati prices ranged from ₹23,998 to ₹35,015.
The price surge has become so extreme that many international routes now cost significantly less than domestic flights. For December 6, flights from Delhi or Bengaluru to Dubai were available for around ₹15,000, while Delhi–Bangkok fares started at approximately ₹18,747.
The ongoing disruptions—now in their fourth day—stem from crew shortages and operational issues linked to duty-time norms, severely affecting India’s most heavily travelled airports such as Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad. Passengers have reported long queues, limited communication from the airline and prolonged uncertainty over departures.
In response to the escalating crisis, Delhi Airport suspended all IndiGo departures until 23:59, resulting in about 235 cancellations from the capital alone. IndiGo released a public apology, acknowledging the severity of the situation and expressing that Friday might see the highest cancellations as the airline attempts a systemwide reset. It assured travellers that operations are expected to stabilise starting Saturday.
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