Massive Flight Cancellations at Srinagar & Jammu Airports: Airfares Soar Amid IndiGo Crew Shortage

Published on December 7, 2025

The serene beauty of the winter season in Jammu and Kashmir has been overshadowed by a major disruption in air travel, leaving thousands of passengers stranded, their plans shattered, and their pockets significantly lighter. What began as a nationwide operational hurdle for India’s largest carrier, IndiGo Airlines, has resulted in a cascading crisis at the Union Territory’s crucial airports in Srinagar and Jammu, where more than 20 flights were cancelled in a single day.

The Domino Effect: A Tale of Two Airports

The disruption, which has persisted for two consecutive days, is a direct consequence of a massive internal restructuring and crew shortage within IndiGo, triggered by new Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) safety directives regarding pilot rest and duty hours. This sudden crunch in available crew has forced the airline to drastically revise its schedules, causing an unprecedented volume of cancellations across the country.

On the day of the reporting, a total of 21 flights were cancelled across Srinagar and Jammu airports. The breakdown paints a clear picture of the scale of the problem:

• Srinagar Airport (SXR): Saw 18 cancellations out of a total of 64 scheduled movements. IndiGo alone accounted for 14 cancellations (seven arrivals and seven departures) and delayed at least 10 additional flights. Four SpiceJet flights were also cancelled.
• Jammu Airport: Reported three IndiGo cancellations.

The total number of disrupted operations, which includes the 41 flights cancelled just the day before, has thrown the travel plans of thousands of people into complete disarray. Passengers—ranging from tourists and patients needing urgent medical attention to students rushing for exams and government employees on official duty—have been left waiting for hours, often without timely communication or clear alternative arrangements.

The Real Cost: Skyrocketing Ticket Prices

The most immediate and painful consequence of this flight crunch has been the exorbitant surge in airfares. With dozens of flights suddenly vanishing from the schedule, the sheer principles of supply and demand have sent the prices of the remaining tickets through the roof.

Travel operators and stranded passengers confirm a shocking escalation:

• Key Routes: Last-minute tickets on vital routes from Srinagar and Jammu to major metros like Delhi have soared to between Rs 7,000 and Rs 8,000.
• Short-Haul: Even short-haul flights between Delhi and Jammu are now fetching prices of Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000, far exceeding their usual bracket.

This sudden financial exploitation, driven by automated revenue management systems in other airlines capitalising on the crisis, has sparked widespread anger and distress. For ordinary citizens relying on budget air travel, the sudden spike has turned a simple journey into a major, unexpected financial burden. As one Srinagar-based travel agent, Wahid Ahmed, noted, the situation has left passengers “frustrated, particularly those in need of urgent travel.”

The Ripple Effect: Tourism Takes a Hit

The disruption is not just a personal inconvenience; it’s a direct blow to the region’s fragile tourism economy. The winter season is a crucial time for Kashmir tourism, and such large-scale flight uncertainty acts as a massive deterrent for potential visitors.

Rouf Tramboo, President of the Travel Agents Association of Kashmir, voiced the industry’s deep concern, stating that the disruptions are actively affecting tourism bookings. His call for better coordination between airlines and authorities underscores the need for a predictable and reliable air network to support the local economy.

While other carriers, such as Air India, have reportedly operated normally, the sheer market dominance of IndiGo means that their operational failure has an outsized, crippling effect on the entire air travel ecosystem in the Union Territory.

Advice and Accountability

Airport authorities have been left managing the chaos on the ground, urging passengers to take proactive steps to avoid unnecessary hardship:

• Reconfirm Flight Status: Passengers have been repeatedly advised to reconfirm the status of their flights directly with the airline before heading to the airport.
• Arrive Early: Given the ongoing uncertainty and long queues, early arrival remains a necessary precaution.

The crisis highlights a deeper vulnerability in India’s air travel infrastructure, where the operational health of a single dominant carrier can paralyze travel across entire regions. It raises serious questions about the need for greater capacity buffers, stricter regulatory oversight on last-minute cancellations, and mechanisms to prevent predatory pricing when such disruptions occur. For now, the thousands of stranded travellers in Jammu and Kashmir can only wait, hoping for a swift normalisation of flight operations and a responsible resolution from the airlines involved.