IndiGo cancellations leave Patna flyers stranded; railways steps in

The turbulence rocking IndiGo’s operations showed no signs of easing on Monday, casting a long shadow over Patna airport as day seven of mass disruptions left passengers anxious, exhausted, and stranded.

What began as a string of cancellations has swelled into a full-blown travel bottleneck: on Sunday alone, 10 IndiGo flights bound for Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and more were abruptly scrubbed from the schedule. Travellers with job interviews, family emergencies, and long-planned commitments watched their plans collapse, some having had their tickets reissued two or three times — only to meet the same fate each time. Even flights that survived the axe limped along with delays of up to 30 minutes.

The pattern persisted into Monday, with airport officials confirming that five more IndiGo departures — to Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata among them — had been cancelled before take-off.

Airline staff are now contacting affected passengers individually, while a help desk and a dedicated helpline have been activated as a stopgap measure. IndiGo maintains that operations should stabilise by 15 December, though that promise rings hollow for many still marooned in the terminal.

With air travel in disarray, the East Central Railway has stepped in as an unexpected lifeline. Sensing the mounting chaos, railway officials swiftly rolled out contingency measures: a special Patna–Anand Vihar Terminal train has been pressed into service, while the Sampoorna Kranti Express and Tejas Rajdhani Express have each been furnished with an extra coach to accommodate the overflow of disrupted passengers.

Danapur Division Senior DCM Abhinav Siddhartha announced that the Patna–Anand Vihar Special (02309) will leave Patna at 8:30 p.m. on Monday, reaching Delhi the following afternoon — offering at least some stranded flyers a path forward.

As queues thin at airline counters and swell at railway platforms, Patna’s weary travellers wait for the skies to calm, hoping the crisis that has grounded a week’s worth of journeys will finally lift.

With IANS inputs