IndiGo Vacates Over 700 Slots at Major Airports Amid Winter Flight Cuts
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India's largest airline, IndiGo, has surrendered more than 700 domestic flight slots at key airports following a 10% reduction in its winter schedule by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The move aims to prevent last-minute cancellations and ensure operational stability, which was severely affected in early December when the airline cancelled 2,507 flights and delayed 1,852, impacting over 3 lakh passengers. The vacated slots, which refer to specific time periods allocated for takeoff and landing, are scattered across the January-March period, with the majority being from Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The civil aviation ministry has asked other airlines to submit their requests for operating on these slots, which will be redistributed subject to certain conditions. In its winter schedule for 2025-26, IndiGo was allowed to operate 15,014 flights per week, but the 10% reduction has brought this down to 1,930 domestic flights per day. The airline industry executive warns that airlines might not be keen to take the slots vacated by IndiGo, as most of them are for red-eye flights. The committee on redistribution of the vacated slots has asked airlines to submit their requests and preferences, with the final decision on the redistribution of the slots to be made by the airport operators. The interested airlines must not discontinue their existing routes to utilise the vacated slots. The DGCA had earlier slapped fines totalling ₹22.20 crore for the December flight disruptions and had also warned CEO Pieter Elbers and two other senior executives for the lapses. The watchdog had also directed the airline to furnish a ₹50 crore bank guarantee to ensure long-term systemic corrections.
