The country’s largest airline Indigo has vacated more than 700 slots at various domestic airports. In view of the huge disruption in operations in early December, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had reduced the airline’s winter flights by 10 percent, after which the company took this step. The fixed time given for takeoff and landing of an aircraft at the airport is called slot.
Sources told PTI that out of the total 717 slots vacated, 364 are from six major metro airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Among these, maximum slots are from Hyderabad and Bengaluru. According to the data, these slots have been vacated for the period from January to March.
Civil Aviation Ministry asked for applications
Amid this development, the Civil Aviation Ministry on Thursday invited applications from other airlines to operate domestic flights on these slots vacated by IndiGo. A source said, ‘IndiGo has submitted the list of 717 slots to the ministry. These have been vacated after the winter flight timings were reduced by 10 percent in December last year.
DGCA had given this instruction with the aim of preventing last-minute cancellation of flights and ensuring operational stability. IndiGo was allowed to operate 2,144 flights per day under the winter schedule of 2025-26, which has come down to 1,930 after a 10 percent cut.
Between December 3 and 5 last year, IndiGo had canceled 2,507 flights and delayed 1,852 flights, affecting more than three lakh passengers across the country.
In view of the huge disruption in operations, DGCA had reduced IndiGo’s winter flight schedule by 10 percent, which simply means that the airline has stopped operating its services in various slots.
What opinion has the expert given?
Airline industry experts believe that other airlines may not show much interest in taking these slots as it is not possible to plan the network and start flights on new routes in such a short time.
According to experts, it is not practical to start a new route and close it after just one month. Moreover, most of these are red-eye flights (flights operating late at night or early in the morning), due to which airlines are not enthusiastic about them.
The Civil Aviation Ministry, in a message sent to airlines on Thursday, clarified that interested airlines should not close their existing routes to utilize the vacant slots.
DGCA had imposed a fine of Rs 22.20 crore on Indigo.
Earlier on January 17, DGCA had imposed a fine of Rs 22.20 crore on IndiGo for operational lapses and also warned Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Elbers. The regulator has also directed the airline to deposit a bank guarantee of Rs 50 crore.
