New Delhi, Dec 3: IndiGo cancelled a significant number of flights on Wednesday across major airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru, with sources attributing the widespread disruptions primarily to an acute shortage of cabin and flight crew.

According to sources, IndiGo has run into a severe crew shortage due to the implementation of the second phase of the flight duty time limitations (FDTL) norms, which has stranded planes across airports in the country, with travel schedules of flyers going haywire.

While there were some cancellations on Tuesday, the situation turned worse on Wednesday.

The airline admitted that there were cancellations and delays in flights, but said apart from operational requirements, technology issues and congestion at airports were also contributing to the cancellations in flights.

As many as 40 flights were reported to have been cancelled at the Delhi airport, throwing the airlines' flight schedules into chaos while confused passengers suffered, sources said.

Close to 30 IndiGo flights were cancelled from or to Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, leaving passengers in the lurch.

The airport management said: "IndiGo flights at RGIA have been impacted due to airline-related technology and operational issues, resulting in delays and cancellations. Operations at RGIA remain normal, and passengers are requested to contact IndiGo’s customer service team directly for the latest updates on flight status."

IndiGo said in a statement: "We acknowledge that IndiGo’s operations have been significantly disrupted across the network for the past two days, and we sincerely apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused."

A multitude of unforeseen operational challenges, including minor technology glitches, schedule changes linked to the winter season, adverse weather conditions, increased congestion in the aviation system, and the implementation of updated crew rostering rules (Flight Duty Time Limitations), had a negative compounding impact on our operations in a way that was not feasible to be anticipated, the airline stated.

IndiGo said that to contain the disruption and restore stability, the airline has initiated calibrated adjustments to its schedules. "These measures will remain in place for the next 48 hours and will allow us to normalise our operations and progressively recover our punctuality across the network. The airline’s teams are working around the clock to ease customer discomfort and ensure operations stabilise as quickly as possible. Furthermore, the affected customers are being offered alternative travel arrangements to reach their destinations or refunds, as applicable," the statement said.

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"We request customers to check the latest flight status at https://www.goindigo.in/check-flight-status.html before heading to the airport," the statement added.

(IANS)