As flight disruptions continued for the third day in a row after IndiGo faced serious operational issues due to a shortage of cabin crew and other internal issues, other airlines responded by increasing fares and taking advantage of the situation. Air tickets to Kerala from various cities, including Delhi and Mumbai, were hiked tenfold, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded in various cities, seemingly scraping the bottom of the barrel to get home.
Renu Franklin, a native of Thiruvananthapuram and an IT professional who is now stranded at the Guwahati airport, told The Hindu that she was part of a group of 24 women travelers who had gone to Nagaland to attend the Horn Festival. The team returned to Guwahati on Friday evening from Dimapur. By the time they reached the airport, the IndiGo problem had already spiraled into a full-blown crisis across the country. While several were unable to fly from Guwahati, many were stranded in other parts of the country, including Delhi.
“IndiGo Airlines secured the flight on Saturday morning after canceling the service scheduled for Friday. It is still uncertain whether the flight will depart as promised. While Air India tickets for Friday and Saturday are fully sold out, fares for the coming days are being charged exorbitantly,” Ms Franklin said.
According to the fares quoted by various booking sites as of Friday, a ticket from Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday is selling in the price range of ₹ 49,380 – ₹ 68,964, which is otherwise available in the price range of ₹ 6,000 to ₹ 7,500. The cost of a Mumbai-Kochi Air India ticket on Sunday is ₹34,000 and a Mumbai-Thiruvananthapuram ticket on the same day is ₹33,389.
While the disruption of IndiGo services also impacts the international sector, the dynamic pricing is not commensurate with the domestic sector. A low-cost Dubai-Thiruvananthapuram ticket on Sunday is priced between ₹30,000 and ₹36,000 by Air India Express, while Air Arabia charges ₹34,500 to ₹35,500 for the same ticket on the same day.
It is not clear what is the size and extent of compensation provided by airlines in case of cancellation, rescheduling or extended delay of services, said KV Muraleedharan, president of the Kerala Association of Travel Agents and Travel Agencies. However, the companies would start charging passengers cancellation fees starting from ₹3,000 barely seconds after booking the flight.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation should make necessary amendments to its rules to ensure that compensation is provided commensurate with the hardship caused by airlines to passengers, he said.
Meanwhile, Binoy Viswam, state secretary of the Communist Party of India, in a statement on Friday asked the civil aviation ministry for swift action to stop airlines from abandoning passengers. “Charging ₹51,000 for a Mumbai-Delhi ticket could only be considered daylight robbery by the companies,” he said.
Published – 05 Dec 2025 21:15 IST
