India’s largest airline, IndiGo has vacated more than 700 slots at multiple airports across India following the 10 per cent cut on its winter flight schedule ordered by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in December 2025. The DGCA had issued the orders to trim its services after the airline suffered massive operational disruptions last month.
This means that the airline will have reduced designated time windows for aircraft take-offs and landings at airports. The drop in the number of slots may improve maintenance of flight schedules and restore stability in IndiGo’s operations.
Furthermore, IndiGo has committed to complying with the DGCA’s order to prioritise reliability and passenger experience moving forward.
The measure was taken to decrease the number of frequent last-minute cancellations and delays by IndiGo. Before the disruptions, IndiGo typically operated more than 2,200 flights in a day.
MoCA invites other airlines to avail vacant slots
The airline has submitted a detailed list of 700 slots to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, as per sources familiar with the matter. Now, the winter flight schedule from January to March 2026 has these 700 slots available for other airlines. For the slot redistribution, the Ministry has invited other airlines to submit requests for operating domestic flights on these newly available slots, so that they don’t remain unutilized.
Reportedly, the surrendered slots will be allocated to airlines that have enough capacity, in terms of aircraft and staff, including pilots, cabin crew, ground support equipment and maintenance engineers. To avail the slots, airlines are required to share operational preparedness, failing which allotted slots will be cancelled and reassigned.
The Ministry will ensure that it does not remain limited to reshuffling of existing flights but also improves operational efficiency.