New Delhi,
Indian airports were in chaos on Thursday after IndiGo, the country's largest airline, cancelled over 1,200 flights, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
The company blamed the disruption on "unforeseen operational challenges", which included technical glitches, inclement weather, and new worker rules.
India's aviation watchdog has ordered an investigation and demanded that IndiGo respond with plans to ease the disruptions, which have been ongoing since Monday.
Passengers expressed their dissatisfaction online, with one airport user on X describing "complete mayhem" with delays of up to eight hours and "no staff" available to assist.
As of Wednesday, IndiGo had cancelled 1,232 flights. The number of delays was unclear.
IndiGo stated that it was offering customers alternative travel arrangements and refunds while restoring its services.
The company acknowledged that its "significantly disrupted" operations were partly caused by new crew rostering rules, which had a "negative compounding impact".
The rules went into effect last month and aim to give pilots and crew more rest periods to improve passenger safety.
The disruption is another setback for the no-frills airline that has built its reputation on punctuality.
Airbus issued an alert last week requiring an urgent upgrade for 6,000 aircraft worldwide, affecting 200 of its planes.
India is one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets, surpassing 500,000 daily flyers last month for the first time.
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