IndiGo travelers say they are stranded in Istanbul without food, airline responds

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Around 400 IndiGo passengers, scheduled to travel between New Delhi and Mumbai, and Turkey, have allegedly been stranded at Istanbul airport for 24 hours.


In a press statement, the airline said apologised for the "inconvenience caused to the customers". 


"We are aware of the delays on the IndiGo flight connections to Istanbul. We accord the highest priority towards customer convenience and out teams are available at all contact points to assist customers. IndiGo apologises for the inconvenience caused to the customers," the airline said.


Passengers took to social media platform X and LinkedIn to claim that the flight was first delayed and then cancelled without notice. One of the fliers Anushri Bhansali said the flight was delayed twice by and hour, then cancelled and finally rescheduled 12 hours later, leaving passengers stranded. While complaining of exhaustion and a fever, she also said fliers were not given any accommodation, meal vouchers or even approached by an IndiGo representative at the airport.


Another passenger Rohan Raja said that after the 6.40 am flight from Delhi was cancelled, people struggled amid the chilly weather as the airline provided no transport to the accommodations they were allegedly provided.


Scheduled to travel to Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Parshwa Mehta wrote the 8.15 pm was delayed to 11 pm and then pushed to 10 am the next day. Further, chaos ensued as there was no IndiGo announcement and the information was received from the Turkish Airlines crew.


"We were told we'd get lounge access 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, no proper communication was made, and to top it all off-no plans for reparations were shared," he wrote in a post on X.


Mr Mehta, we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and will connect with you. ~Poulami
— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) December 12, 2024


Hitting out at the airline's "blatant failure of basic customer service", Mr Mehta said every passenger is owed an apology and fair compensation.


Earlier this month, the AirHelp Score report 2024 placed IndiGo among the world's worst airlines, ranking it 103rd among the 109 analysed. The report also ranked Air India at 61st and AirAsia at 94th.