Patna: Massive travel disruption unfolded at Patna Airport on Friday as the impact of IndiGo Airlines’ frequent flight cancellations hit passengers hard. With a sudden drop in available flights, travellers struggled to secure tickets on other airlines — and those who did were left shocked by soaring airfares to major metro cities.
The sharpest rise was recorded for Delhi-bound flights on Saturday. SpiceJet’s Patna–Delhi flight scheduled for 9:40 pm saw fares jump to an extraordinary ₹60,000 — many times higher than regular pricing. Tickets on Air India Express flights to Delhi were also selling at around ₹20,000.
The surge affected other metro routes as well. Fares for Patna–Chennai flights crossed ₹41,000 on Saturday and shot up to more than ₹46,000 on Sunday. The cost of traveling from Patna to Mumbai on Sunday started at ₹46,000 and peaked at a staggering ₹90,000.
Despite the high prices, passengers faced difficulty finding seats. Tickets for Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai on December 6 were almost completely sold out on most airlines. Air India has only limited availability left — and that too for travel nearly three days later. Officials say the sudden demand with limited supply has pushed fares to “record highs”.
Chaos dominated the terminal, especially in the departure zone where lengthy queues formed for cancellations, rescheduling, and refund requests. In contrast, the arrival area looked unusually deserted due to multiple flight cancellations.
Distressed passengers said they were left with no viable travel options. “Even if we are ready to pay, tickets just aren’t available. And for many, these fares are simply unaffordable,” a flyer said. Others pointed out that timely updates could have allowed them to switch to trains or road transport.
With no clarity yet on when the situation will improve, passengers are calling for urgent intervention by aviation authorities. For now, the disruption caused by IndiGo’s cancellations continues to paralyse air travel from Patna, leaving hundreds stranded and frustrated.
