Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], December 7 : Major disruptions continued on Sunday at Ahmedabad Airport, where 21 flights, including 12 arrivals and 9 departures of IndiGo Airlines, were cancelled.
According to the Airport, till 2 pm today, a total of 62 flights, including 27 arrivals and 35 departures, were operated at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.
Meanwhile, despite the relaxation of flight duty time limitations, chaos across multiple Indian airports continued on Sunday morning, with at atleast 400 flights cancelled across the country. Major air terminals, mainly in urban centres, have been hit hardest, with most cancellations concentrated at Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Delhi airports.
Amid the chaos at airports, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a show-cause notice to IndiGo's accountable manager.
The worst hit, Telangana's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Hyderabad, saw 115 flights cancelled today, with 54 arrivals and 61 departures affected.
According to a statement from the Delhi Airport, at least 59 departures and 50 arrivals, totalling 109 flights, have been cancelled today.
Kolkata saw at atleast 76 flights affected, with 53 departures cancelled and 23 arrivals cancelled. According to a statement from the NSCBI Kolkata airport, 14 departures out of 43 between midnight and 10 AM today have been cancelled. Of the 17 arrivals scheduled, two had been cancelled, and two flights had been delayed by more than 30 minutes.
In Pune, around 25 flights have been cancelled today, including those scheduled to fly across the country.
Meanwhile, in the northeast region, Agartala airport saw 6 IndiGo flights cancelled, including those scheduled to depart for Kolkata, Delhi, Guwahati, Bangalore and Imphal.
In South India, Trichy airport saw five arrivals and six departures cancelled, with only one arrival and three departures operating till Sunday afternoon.
Amid large-scale flight disruptions, the DGCA has issued two show-cause notices: one to the airline's CEO, Pieter Elbers, on Saturday, and another to the "Accountable Manager".
The regulatory authority has said that such operational failures indicate "significant lapses in planning, oversight, and resource management, and is prima facie non-compliance on the part of the airport with the provisions of Rule 42A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, and the provisions of CAR Section 7, Series J, Party III Issue III (Rev 2) on Duty Period, Flight Duty Period, Flight Time Limitations and Prescribed Rest Periods - Flight crew engaged in Scheduled Air Transport Operations," the show cause notice read.
"Whereas, as the Post Holder Accountable Manager, you are responsible for ensuring that overall operations are strictly in accordance with the approved manuals, and, in terms of para 8 of CAR Section 3, Series C, Part II, and para 1 of its Appendix 3," the regulator said.
The notice comes two days after IndiGo was exempted from one of the newly introduced rules for pilot safety, namely the rule that prevents airlines from substituting a pilot's rest period for leave.