Stranded at Bengaluru airport: IndiGo flyers face financial, emotional & professional turmoil

Nearby hotels hike room rent; passengers plan to sue IndiGo

Bengaluru: Passengers stranded at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) are dealing with trauma far beyond missed flights — with financial, professional and emotional costs.

Passengers passing through Bengaluru on connecting flights are left scampering trying to figure accommodation for the night after their flights to their destinations were cancelled at the last minute.

Unaware of the transit hotels at the airport, in both terminals, some planned to opt for hotels in Devanahalli or Hebbal.

"The IndiGo staff had no response and told us about the five-star hotel on the airport premises as the option. Instead of paying for that, I might as well pay Rs 40,000 for the return flight and head back home. I’m also looking up hotels near the airport,” said Luv, a Delhi-bound passenger.

An Assamese family of four, heading to Goa, planned to get in touch with family friends to seek refuge.

Some passengers, like a marathon runner, missed their international race and subsequent US travel plans. A pregnant woman was left stranded, over 2,000 km from home.

Sukhen Padmanabha, a passenger, estimates losing over Rs 50,000 on non-refundable hotel and onward cab bookings.

Madhumitha, a US-returnee, said nearby hotels like Bloom, were cashing in on the opportunity and demanding Rs 10,000, "a 100% jump from usual Rs 5,000."

Elizabeth, an Australian tourist, said: "We're stranded here now. The flight has been cancelled, and now we're cancelled for two days. We have to pay for a hotel and all these things. It's now two days late for our ayurvedic treatments all our plans are affected."

Shabana, who is travelling with two small children, lamented: "Our flight was cancelled yesterday, then they rebooked, and today they cancelled again. I've been waiting with a baby for hours, and we still don't know the status."

Balachandran, from Thiruvananthapuram, said: "We checked in at Raipur, and they told us the flight to Thiruvananthapuram was confirmed. But when we reached here at noon, they are only now telling us it is cancelled. No messages, nothing. Now they say take a refund. We planned this three months back, and now there are huge losses for us."

A Sabarimala pilgrim said: "We came from Hyderabad for the Sabarimala pilgrimage. We are missing our darshan dates. The airline is not responding."

Sanjeev Mehta, another stranded passenger, said: "I booked my ticket a long time ago. My Ranchi flight was cancelled, so they rerouted me from Deoghar to Goa. I managed to reach Deoghar, and now they say the flight from Bengaluru is cancelled again. It’s been cancellation after cancellation. I've been roaming in the airport for two days. The situation is terrible."

Under the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) rules, airlines are obligated to provide a full refund or alternate flight, along with meals, refreshments and sometimes accommodation for delays and cancellations. However, current regulations do not explicitly cover consequential or indirect expenses like missed onward travel or non-refundable bookings.

Many passengers are now calling for a collective effort to sue IndiGo to force accountability for these direct and indirect losses, arguing that the crisis was foreseeable as the airline was allegedly aware of the pilot shortage and yet continued to issue boarding passes.

The financial regulator has already ordered IndiGo to trace all separated baggage and deliver it to the passengers' homes within 48 hours, but for many, the damage both emotional and financial has already been done.