Passengers at Vadodara airport faced significant travel disruption on Tuesday morning as IndiGo cancelled two key flights connecting the city to Mumbai and Delhi. The airline cited "operational reasons" for the last-minute cancellations, adding to a recent pattern of flight troubles at the airport.
Flights Cancelled, Passengers Scrambled
The affected services were IndiGo flight 6E-5126/6087 on the Mumbai–Vadodara–Mumbai circuit and flight 6E-5066/6662 on the Delhi–Vadodara–Delhi route. Airport authorities confirmed the cancellations, stating that the airline followed its passenger policy in response.
According to an official statement, affected travellers were either accommodated on the next available flights or offered a full refund. Officials noted that passengers with urgent travel needs were shifted to flights operating from the nearby Ahmedabad airport, while others were rebooked on evening services from Vadodara.
A Pattern of Recent Disruptions
Tuesday's incident is not isolated. It follows multiple flight cancellations reported just days earlier, on November 28. On that day, services on the Vadodara–Goa, Vadodara–Hyderabad, and Vadodara–Mumbai sectors were cancelled.
The earlier disruption stemmed from a technical snag on an IndiGo aircraft. The plane, which had arrived from Hyderabad, was scheduled to operate on the Vadodara-Goa-Vadodara and Vadodara-Hyderabad sectors. However, while taxiing for takeoff, the pilot noticed an issue and decided to return to the bay as a safety precaution.
Despite immediate efforts by engineers on-site, the problem could not be resolved quickly, forcing the cancellation of the flights. A specialized technical team had to be flown in from Mumbai to attend to the aircraft.
Ongoing Operational Challenges
The issues at Vadodara airport appear persistent. On the same day as the technical snag last week, another IndiGo flight from Mumbai to Vadodara was cancelled, marking the second cancellation on that route in a short span. Furthermore, a day prior, an evening IndiGo flight from Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport to Vadodara was also cancelled due to operational reasons, leading to the cancellation of its return leg as well.
These repeated disruptions are causing considerable inconvenience to flyers, especially as Vadodara's air connectivity has been defined under the new winter schedule. The city currently has:
- Five daily flights to Delhi
- Three daily flights to Mumbai
- One daily flight each to Bengaluru, Goa, and Hyderabad
- One flight to Pune three times a week
- One weekly flight to Chennai
The frequent cancellations, therefore, significantly impact travel plans on these key routes, leaving passengers seeking reliable alternatives and timely communication from the airline.
