Thousands Of Travelers Grounded Across Asia As Thailand, Singapore, India, Malaysia, UAE, China, Indonesia And Japan Cancel 114 and Delay 3,609 Flights, Disrupting Emirates, IndiGo, Air China, Shenzhen, AirAsia And More Including Dubai, Delhi, Jakarta, Bangkok, And Changi

Published on December 26, 2025

Thousands Of Passengers stranded across Asia Today as Thailand, Malaysia, India, Singapore, UAE, China, Indonesia And Japan Delay and Cancel 3,723 Flights, including Kuala Lumpur (424 delays), Shenzhen Bao’an (605 delays), Indira Gandhi International (390 delays), Dubai Airport (214 Delays and Cancellations), Tokyo Haneda (341 delays), and Soekarno-Hatta International (323 delays). Airlines with the highest impact included IndiGo (348 delays, 4 cancellations), Shenzhen Airlines (174 delays, 5 cancellations), Emirates (59 delays), Japan Airlines (139 delays, 11 cancellations), Thai Airways (66 Delays), and AirAsia (170 Delays). Despite the scale of disruption, cancellations remained comparatively limited, highlighting a delay-heavy operational strain rather than mass flight grounding across Asia. Shenzhen, Tokyo, Delhi, Jakarta, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Dubai were among the most affected cities, reflecting widespread disruption across China, Japan, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and the UAE.

• Updated today: Asia recorded 3,609 delays and 114 cancellations, marking one of the heaviest single-day disruption loads this month.
• Shenzhen, Kuala Lumpur, Delhi, Tokyo Haneda, and Jakarta emerged as the worst-affected airports by total delays.
• IndiGo and Shenzhen Airlines were the largest contributors by sheer delay volume across their respective regions.
• China, India, Southeast Asia, and Japan all saw simultaneous pressure, indicating a multi-regional operational crunch.

Most Affected Asian Airports by Cancellations and Delays

Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport

Shenzhen recorded the highest delay volume in Asia today with 605 delayed flights, driven largely by heavy disruption across multiple domestic Chinese carriers, while cancellations remained relatively contained.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport

Kuala Lumpur followed with 424 delays, with low-cost carriers accounting for the majority of schedule slippage and only two cancellations, reinforcing a delay-dominant pattern.

Indira Gandhi International Airport

Delhi logged 390 delays and 4 cancellations, with Indian carriers absorbing most of the operational pressure and international disruption remaining limited.

Tokyo International Airport (Haneda)

Haneda faced 341 delays and 23 cancellations, making it one of the few major hubs where cancellations rose noticeably alongside heavy delays.

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport

Jakarta reported 323 delays, reflecting widespread congestion across domestic operators, though cancellations stayed in single digits.

Airlines Most Affected by Asia Flight Cancellations and Delays

IndiGo

IndiGo recorded 348 combined delays across Mumbai and Delhi, making it the single largest delay contributor in India today.

Shenzhen Airlines

At Shenzhen alone, the carrier logged 174 delays and 5 cancellations, the highest airline-specific impact at any single Asian airport.

Air China

Air China accumulated significant delays and the highest cancellation totals among Chinese airlines, with notable disruption at Beijing Capital, Shenzhen, and Xi’an.

Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines experienced major combined impact across Tokyo Haneda and New Chitose, including 23 cancellations, the highest among Japanese carriers.

AirAsia

AirAsia posted 170 delays at Kuala Lumpur, underscoring persistent congestion across Southeast Asian low-cost operations.

Emirates

Emirates recorded 59 delayed flights at Dubai International, reflecting sustained operational pressure at one of the world’s busiest global transit hubs despite limited cancellations.

How Travellers Were Impacted at Major Asian Airports

• Passengers faced longer gate holds and departure time changes, particularly on short-haul regional routes.
• Tight connections became harder to make, increasing reliance on airline rebooking support.
• Travellers were required to monitor flight status more frequently as rolling delays continued through the day.
• Airport dwell times increased, especially during peak departure banks at major hubs.

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Overview of Asia Flight Cancellations

Today’s data shows that Asia’s disruption story was defined far more by delays than cancellations. While airports such as Shenzhen Bao’an, Kuala Lumpur International, Tokyo Haneda, and Indira Gandhi International Airport posted hundreds of delayed flights, cancellations remained mostly contained, with only select hubs like Tokyo Haneda and airlines such as Japan Airlines and Air China seeing elevated cancellation counts. Airlines including IndiGo, Shenzhen Airlines, AirAsia, and China Southern Airlines dominated delay totals, while cities such as Shenzhen, Delhi, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, and Jakarta repeatedly surfaced as the most operationally stressed points in Asia’s aviation network today.

Image Source: AI

Source: Different airports and FlightAware