For Months, IndiGo Sold Deep-Discount Tickets Before Being Hit By Mass Cancellations

Last Updated:December 10, 2025, 09:15 IST

The first wave of sales began with the 15–18 August ‘Independence Day Sale’, which offered discounted fares for travel between 22 August 2025 and 31 March 2026.

File photo of an IndiGo flight.

IndiGo sold large volumes of heavily discounted tickets for the same months in which thousands of flights were later cancelled due to crew shortages, according to sources. Sources said the airline launched four major promotional sales between August and November 2025, offering 40–50% discounts—many of them covering the exact travel periods that eventually saw widespread disruptions.

The first wave of sales began with the 15–18 August ‘Independence Day Sale’, which offered discounted fares for travel between 22 August 2025 and 31 March 2026.

According to sources, tickets for the high-demand November–December window were sold in large volumes during this period. IndiGo followed this with the 15–21 September ‘Grand Runaway Fest,’ targeting passengers travelling between January and March 2026.

Just weeks later, from 5–8 November, the airline launched its ‘Getaway Sale’ for travel between 12 November 2025 and 30 April 2026—immediately after the new Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) rules came into force, a development the airline was already aware of. IndiGo capped the cycle with its 25–28 November ‘Black Friday Sale,’ selling discounted tickets for travel between January and June 2026.

Aviation experts say the pattern appears to be more than routine operational turbulence. One expert, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “If you already know your crew availability will drop, why sell tickets at a 40–50% discount for those exact dates? It gives the impression of overbooking, collecting money first and cancelling later."

Despite advance knowledge of the impending FDTL changes, IndiGo reportedly did not hire additional pilots, did not adjust schedules and did not limit bookings for the peak months.

When the new duty-time norms kicked in, IndiGo’s rostering system reportedly collapsed. More than 2,000 flights were cancelled in a single month, leaving passengers stranded across airports and triggering agitation over delays, cancellations, and baggage issues. Sources said the combination of aggressive ticket sales and inadequate preparedness led to one of the airline’s most severe operational breakdowns in recent years.

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