Vijayawada International Airport Director M. Lakshmi Kantha Reddy was addressing the media at his office in Gannavaram on Wednesday. | Photo credit: GN RAO
While the IndiGo crisis has disrupted flights and caused inconvenient flyers at major airports across the country, the Vijayawada International Airport in Gannavaram has not been greatly impacted even though many flights are operated by IndiGo airlines, Director M. Lakshmi Kantha Reddy said.
He told the media at his office at the airport on Wednesday (Dec 10) that regardless of the fallout, officials were strictly instructed to take care of the flyers as there had been delays in flight schedules since the crisis began on Dec 1.
In view of the problems faced by passengers at other airports, additional airport and contract staff have been deployed to provide food, beverages and timely information to stranded passengers. “We have ensured that the washrooms are clean and the luggage is taken to its destination immediately. We have also given clear instructions to the stall owners not to increase the prices of food,” said Mr. Lakshmi Kantha Reddy.
One of the smaller aircraft operated by IndiGo prepares to take off at the Vijayawada International Airport in Gannavaram on Wednesday. Except the Vijayawada-Delhi-Vijayawada flight, all other IndiGo flights are operational. | Photo credit: GN RAO
At Vijayawada airport, IndiGo operates 16 out of 22 domestic flights and 3 out of 6 international flights. Of these, only the Delhi-Vijayawada-Delhi flight was canceled for more than three days, while the Mumbai-Vijayawada-Mumbai flight was canceled once, he said, adding that the Vijayawada-Delhi flight would be resumed from Friday.
Mr. Lakshmi Kantha Reddy pointed out that he himself was stranded for 18 hours at the Delhi airport and said that the airport authorities had done their best to help the stranded passengers. At the same time, he apologized to the public for any inconvenience.
Airport authorities had earlier told The Hindu that the Vijayawada airport was spared a lot of trouble as IndiGo operated mostly smaller aircraft, the ATR 72, which can accommodate up to 78 passengers. The crisis of crew shortage has mainly affected larger aircraft in the country. In Vijayawada, airlines were operating larger aircraft on only three routes – Delhi, Mumbai and Singapore – and hence these services were discontinued.
Published – 10 Dec 2025 20:49 IST
