New Delhi , Jaan 24 : IndiGo has vacated 717 slots at various domestic airports following a 10 percent reduction in its winter flight schedule ordered by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), sources said. The curtailment was imposed after major operational disruptions in early December.
Slots refer to specific time windows allocated to airlines for aircraft take-offs and landings.
Of the total 717 slots vacated, 364 are from six major metro airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Hyderabad and Bengaluru account for the highest number of vacated slots among these cities.
The vacated slots are spread across the January to March period. Data shows that 361 slots have been vacated for March, 361 for January, and only 43 for February.
Following this development, the Ministry of Civil Aviation on January 22, 2026, invited other airlines to submit requests to operate domestic flights using the vacated slots.
According to sources, IndiGo submitted the list of vacated slots after its domestic winter schedule was reduced by 10 percent in early December 2025.
IndiGo, which typically operates over 2,200 flights daily, trimmed services to comply with the DGCA directive aimed at preventing last-minute cancellations and improving operational stability.
Under its approved winter schedule for 2025–26, IndiGo was allowed to operate 15,014 flights per week, or about 2,144 flights per day. After the 10 percent cut, its daily domestic operations were reduced to around 1,930 flights. In comparison, the airline operated an average of 2,022 flights per day during the summer schedule.
Between December 3 and 5 last year, IndiGo cancelled 2,507 flights and delayed 1,852 others, affecting more than three lakh passengers nationwide. The disruptions prompted the DGCA to impose the temporary reduction in flights.
Industry executives noted that the vacated slots are likely available only until the end of March. “No airline can realistically plan and launch routes for such a short duration, only to shut them down after a month,” one senior executive said, adding that the slots may revert to IndiGo after the winter schedule ends.
