IndiGo Istanbul delays: Now Friday Delhi flight also late; embassy intervenes to help stuck flyers | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Consulate General of India, Istanbul, has intervened to help passengers stranded at the airport there due to delays there in IndiGo flights to Delhi and Mumbai. The airline’s December 11 flights to both Delhi and Mumbai were delayed for almost two days. Subsequently, Istanbul-Delhi from December 13 was also postponed, which further increased the number of airmen stranded there.
“Regarding the delays at Istanbul airport, the consulate was in regular contact with the airlines and responded to all calls from passengers. The flights were delayed due to a technical problem related to safety. The passengers received lounge, accommodation and food. The flights had finally departed from Istanbul after the necessary checks… delays in the flight schedule started from December 11 due to technical problems related to safety and are still ongoing. The consulate responds to all calls from passengers in distress. Our lines remain open.”
Passengers wait at Istanbul airport for IndiGo to make arrangements to fly them home. “The flight to Delhi from Istanbul did not take off. We are still at the airport,” said Aryan Rajput on X from his handle @Aryanrajput278.
In the event of flight delays, diversions or cancellations, passengers often find themselves stuck at foreign airports and unable to go to nearby hotels if their nationality does not entitle them to a visa to leave the airport. Turkey abolished visa on arrival for eligible Indian travelers in April 2014. All Indian passport holders must be in possession of an electronic visa (e-visa) or a sticker visa issued by a Turkish diplomatic or consular mission abroad to gain entry into the country. Turkey. This means that a significant number of IndiGo passengers stuck at Istanbul airport were unable to leave the place.
“IndiGo flight 6E 12, operating from Istanbul to Delhi, was canceled due to a technical problem. Alternative aircraft have been arranged to transport passengers to their destinations. We sincerely regret any inconvenience caused and appreciate their understanding in this matter,” IndiGo said in a statement about the latest delay.
Passengers have taken to social media to highlight their plight. “Too bad about the indigo flight, for the past 35 hours there are more than 500 people waiting for a flight at Istanbul airport but they still cannot board even after paying lakhs to travel. They don’t even provide shelter and food. And also the crew shouts at us and threatened us by calling the police and the police threatened us by saying ‘they will arrest us all’. Is this why we booked IndiGo? After what happened at Istanbul airport in the last two days, no one dares to travel with IndiGo anymore,” said a passenger from his handle @koushikbhuma.

Shubham Bansal wrote on LinkedIn: “I am one of the 400 passengers stranded in Istanbul in the last 24 hours. No response (or) updates from IndiGo. Is this how you run the airline?” Another stranded passenger, Anushri Bhansali, said on SM that the flight was delayed twice by an hour, then canceled and finally rescheduled 12 hours later. Although she complained of exhaustion and fever , she also said that fliers were not provided with accommodation, meal vouchers or even approached by an IndiGo representative at the airport.
In a statement on Friday evening, IndiGo said: “Due to technical issues, IndiGo flights from Mumbai and Delhi to Istanbul experienced delays. This led to successive delays in the return sectors. All necessary steps were taken to ensure that customers were informed and provided with refreshments and accommodation where possible. We regret the inconvenience our customers have experienced and appreciate their understanding and patience.” It added: “All operations have now normalised.”
The cold weather in Istanbul has increased passenger problems. Rohan Raja people were struggling as IndiGo did not provide transportation to the accommodations allegedly made available to them.
Parshwa Mehta was scheduled to travel to Mumbai at 8.15 pm on Wednesday. That flight was first postponed until 11 p.m. and then until 10 a.m. on Thursday. This information was given to passengers by the Turkish Airlines crew and not by Indigo, she said. “We were told that we would be given access to the lounges at Istanbul airport as compensation. But the lounge was far too small to accommodate the huge number of stranded passengers. Many of us were left standing for hours without proper facilities. No alternative flights were offered, there was no proper communication, and to top it all, no plans for reparations were shared either,” he said on it’s his fault passengers had an apology and fair compensation.
IndiGo was recently ranked among the “world’s worst airlines” in the 2024 AirHelp Score report, ranking 103rd out of 109 with a score of 4.80. The low rating is attributed to disappointing customer satisfaction and poor handling of flight disruption claims. While rejecting this report, IndiGo had criticized the methodology and said the study does not disclose the sample size from India, “which casts doubt on the credibility of the study.”