IndiGo Dispatches Relief Flight As Hundreds Remain Stranded In Istanbul

Thousands of passengers continue to be impacted by technical issues faced by IndiGo flights on the Istanbul-India sector. As hundreds of passengers scheduled to fly to India remain stranded in Istanbul, IndiGo will fly a relief aircraft, which will likely bring the fliers back in around 20 hours.

In the last two days, two IndiGo flights - Istanbul-Delhi and Istanbul-Mumbai - were cancelled without arrangements for an alternative flight or accommodation, leaving passengers in a lurch. Several other flights on the sectors were also delayed, likely causing fliers to miss onward connections on Turkish Airlines with whom IndiGo has a codeshare.

IndiGo runs Boeing 777 aircraft on these sectors, which can seat over 500 passengers. In a statement, the airline said passengers on the Istanbul-Delhi 6E12 flight were accommodated on other aircraft to their destinations. It also noted that stranded passengers were given hotels to stay in - either at the airport or outside - depending on whether they had e-visas to enter Turkey.

The Indian Embassy in Istanbul said it was in touch with airlines and stranded passengers, and the latter were provided lounge, stay and food.

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.

In a separate incident, an IndiGo flight en route to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was forced to land at the Jinnah International Airport in Pakistan's Karachi city following a medical emergency onboard. The aircraft, which departed from New Delhi, was in Pakistani airspace when a male passenger fell seriously ill, according to sources from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).