Indian airlines are now required to offer 60% of seats for free and ensure families sit together, as the government strengthens passenger rights and addresses concerns about high seat selection fees.
Around one-fifth of 143 airports handling only domestic flights recorded an average of two or fewer aircraft movements a day between April and November 2025, according to data from the Airports Authority of India
Due to airspace restrictions resulting from the conflict in the Middle East, Indian domestic carriers have cancelled 278 international flights. Some airlines are operating limited services and special flights to assist stranded passengers.
Air India and Air India Express are introducing a fuel surcharge on domestic and international flights due to rising jet fuel prices, impacting travel costs for passengers.
IndiGo has vacated over 700 slots at various domestic airports after the DGCA curtailed its winter flights by 10% following operational disruptions in December. Other airlines are invited to request these slots.
Delhi airport operator DIAL said operations of all other carriers remain as scheduled.
Indian airlines are expected to cancel 444 international flights due to airspace restrictions in the Middle East following attacks on Iran by Israel and the US. The civil aviation ministry is closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with airlines to ensure passenger safety and minimize disruptions.
Airports across the country have been placed on operational alert to manage potential flight diversions, unscheduled landings and passenger facilitation requirements.
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled and delayed, leaving passengers stranded at airports as the flight disruptions continued for the fourth day on Friday.
The DGCA has revised air ticket refund norms, allowing passengers to cancel or change tickets without additional charges within 48 hours of booking, subject to conditions. The new rules also address name correction fees and medical emergency cancellations.
Pakistan has significantly increased the price of high-octane fuel, impacting luxury vehicle owners, while also seeing increases in petrol, diesel, and airline fares due to rising global oil prices.
An Air Canada plane collided with a ground vehicle at La Guardia Airport, resulting in a ground stop and significant flight disruptions, impacting travel plans for countless passengers.
Squash player Ramit Tandon is focusing on the Asian Games in September, using the Indian Open as preparation. He highlights the advantage of competing at home and the challenges of international travel.
Australian police helped two more members of the Iranian women's football delegation slip their minders to claim asylum, but one has changed her mind and decided to go back to Iran.
The Competition Commission of India, following its preliminary inquiry, said the airline appeared to have caused an appreciable adverse effect on competition by restricting its services.
The country's largest airline IndiGo, which faced massive operational disruptions earlier this month, saw its domestic market share slide to 63.6 per cent in November, according to official data. Air India Group, comprising Air India and Air India Express, and SpiceJet had their respective market shares in November rise to 26.7 per cent and 3.7 per cent, respectively.
IndiGo airline will face near-term pressure on profitability from rising fuel prices following the escalation of conflict in West Asia, though it is likely to pass on higher costs to passengers over time because its ticket booking cycle is relatively short, according to a report by Moody's Ratings.
SpiceJet has decreased its domestic services by 31 per cent to 2,995 weekly flights in the upcoming winter schedule as compared to 4,316 weekly flights that it got approved for the winter schedule of 2019, the aviation regulator DGCA said on Thursday. Meanwhile, Vistara, another private carrier, has increased its domestic services by 22 per cent to 1,675 weekly flights as compared to 1,376 weekly flights for 2019 winter schedule, the regulator added. The winter schedule begins on October 31 of a year and ends on March 26 next year.
IndiGo cancelled over 1,000 flights on Friday and said operations are expected to normalise in the next 10 days, as the country's largest airline received flight duty norms relaxation from watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which will probe the disruptions that have impacted thousands of passengers for four straight days.
Odisha-based BonV Aero has partnered with ParaZero Technologies to introduce advanced counter-drone systems to India's defence and security agencies, offering a kinetic solution to neutralise hostile drones.
Rahul Bhatia-controlled domestic carrier IndiGo on Monday cancelled 562 flights from six metro airports, with 150 cancellations originating from Bengaluru airport alone, according to sources.
Foreign investors have withdrawn over Rs 88,000 crore from Indian equities this month, driven by geopolitical tensions, a weak rupee, and concerns about rising crude oil prices.
The escalating conflict involving the U.S. and Israel with Iran has led to widespread disruption in the world of sports, with events postponed, travel plans thrown into chaos, and athletes seeking asylum.
IndiGo operator InterGlobe Aviation had a mildly encouraging third quarter in financial year 2026 (Q3FY26).
The Gurugram-based carrier, which commands over 65 per cent of India's total domestic traffic, had cancelled over 560 flights from six metro airports alone on Monday.
The World Para Athletics Grand Prix in New Delhi has been significantly affected by the conflict in West Asia and the month of Ramzan, leading to a sharp decline in international participation.
While this doesn't mean that air travel is now a breeze, what it does mean is that you now have more rights and more control over your money.
The Israeli Air Force has destroyed an aircraft used by Iranian leadership at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, along with striking over 200 targets across western and central Iran, significantly impacting Iran's strategic capabilities.
In further easing of restrictions, the government on Wednesday permitted Indian airlines to increase the number of domestic passenger flights to 60 per cent of their pre-Covid services, according to an official order.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged citizens to observe Janta curfew by not going out of their homes from 7 am to 9 am on Sunday amid novel coronavirus pandemic.
In another development, aviation safety regulator DGCA in an order on Sunday late evening extended the time by Monday 6 pm for IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Officer and Accountable Manager Isidro Porqueras to submit reply to its show cause notice over the ongoing disruptions in the airline's operations.
'Being an important institution in the banking system, we are subject to regulatory supervision, both offsite and onsite.' 'When you look at the intensity at which these levels of supervision come, we, on the board and in management, believe there should not be any surprises.'
In the present hyper-connected world, there are many domestic and global factors that affect financial markets. Of them, the most powerful and often least predictable are geopolitical events, which often boil down to one diplomatic headline.
IndiGo is operating 1,650 flights of its 2,300 daily domestic and international flights on Sunday, and 650 remain cancelled for the day, amid the airline's operations gradually stabilising after massive disruptions in the last five days, the airline said.
Pilots' body the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze."
As major airports like Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad have a severe cap on the number of fights they can handle, cancellations continued on Tuesday.
According to sources, the crisis-ridden airline cancelled 137 flights at Delhi airport and 21 services at Mumbai airport.
The board of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of IndiGo, has already set up a crisis management group in the wake of the significant operational disruptions that started on December 2.
According to aviation industry sources, around 630 domestic flights of Monday were cancelled due to the Centre's Sunday night announcement that there would be no flights in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, and limited operations at major airports such as Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad.
Indigo airlines cancelled 13 flights from Hyderabad airport, causing chaos and frustration among passengers. The cancellations were attributed to technology and operational issues.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances