Indore airport hit by flight cancellations losses:Daily losses of ₹35–40 lakh; impacting revenue across hotels, tourism and taxi-related businesses

The continued cancellation and disruption of IndiGo flights have impacted not only passengers but have also resulted in substantial revenue losses for Indore’s Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport. Over the past five days, the airport authority has incurred losses exceeding Rs 2 crore due to repeated flight cancellations. The disruption has had a cascading effect on the city’s economy, adversely affecting the hotel, tourism, and taxi sectors. The situation remains unresolved, with IndiGo cancelling one to two flights daily over the last two days, further straining airport operations and associated industries. Passenger traffic drops sharply According to available information, around 12,000 to 14,000 passengers travel daily through Indore Airport, with arrivals and departures accounting for nearly equal numbers. IndiGo operates the largest network from Indore, handling more than half of the airport’s total flights. Between December 4 and December 8, several IndiGo flights were cancelled, leading to a 40–45 per cent drop in average passenger footfall during this period. The situation turned worse on December 5, when approximately 5,000 to 6,000 passengers had to return from the airport after learning that their flights were cancelled. Airport Authority Revenue takes a major hit Although IndiGo refunded the full ticket amounts to affected passengers, the airport authority received almost no passenger-related fees on cancellation days, resulting in heavy financial losses. For every airline ticket booked from Indore, passengers are charged an average of ₹700 or more, which includes: These charges vary from airport to airport and are utilized by the Airport Authority for passenger facility maintenance and infrastructure expansion. During the disruption period, the airport missed out on fees from 5,000 to 6,000 passengers per day, translating to a daily revenue loss of approximately Rs 35–40 lakh. Sources estimate that the total loss over five days ranges between Rs 1.75 crore and Rs 2 crore or more. Taxi operators and parking revenue affected Taxi operators and parking services at the airport also faced major setbacks. Sandeep Yadav, a taxi operator at the airport, said that many passengers got stuck inside the terminal, while others were informed in advance about flight cancellations and did not come to the airport at all. “Many people called relatives to pick them up from the airport. Since passengers didn’t arrive, we had no customers. Only now are things gradually returning to normal,” he said. Parking revenue also declined significantly during this period. Hotels and travel agencies face cancellations The hotel and tourism industries have also suffered due to the disruption. Travel agents reported large-scale cancellations of travel packages and hotel bookings. While hotels issued credit notes to customers, rebooking on preferred dates has become difficult, leading to further losses for the hospitality sector. Situation improving, but impact lingers Although flight operations are slowly stabilizing, stakeholders across sectors say the financial impact of the cancellations will take time to recover. With IndiGo being the dominant airline at Indore Airport, any disruption in its operations has widespread consequences for the city’s aviation-linked economy.