MUMBAI/BENGALURU: India imposed temporary caps on domestic airfares on December 6 as the fallout from IndiGo's mass flight cancellations stretched into a fifth straight day, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded outside some of the country's busiest airports.

IndiGo, India's largest carrier with more than 60 percent market share, has cancelled thousands of flights this week after failing to prepare for new pilot duty-time rules that took effect on November 1. The shortage of available crew has led to widespread disruption across its network and triggered a surge in fares on competing airlines.

The government moved on December 5 to ease the crisis, announcing exemptions to parts of the new regulations for IndiGo and the deployment of additional trains to help clear stranded travellers. Despite that, cancellations continued on December 6. Delhi airport said on X that operations were "steadily resuming," but many flights across major cities were still being scrapped.

With regular schedules upended, passengers in Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Hyderabad faced long waits and limited alternatives. Airport officials told Reuters that IndiGo cancelled 124 flights in Bengaluru, 109 in Mumbai, 86 in New Delhi, and 66 in Hyderabad on Saturday alone.

The chaos has disrupted weddings and family gatherings during a busy travel period. Some passengers arrived without realising their flights had been cancelled. Satish Konde, who had checked in for a connecting flight from Mumbai to Nagpur, was only informed at the airport.

"I am waiting for my luggage to be returned," he said.

As fares on other airlines spiked, the government stepped in, saying it was capping ticket prices "to maintain pricing discipline," though it did not provide specifics. It added that fare levels would be monitored in real time. India last enforced fare caps during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

By December 5, IndiGo had cancelled more than 1,000 flights in a single day. After the government granted temporary relief from the stricter pilot duty-time limits, the airline said it expected to return to normal operations between December 10 and 15.

IndiGo has acknowledged that it did not adequately plan for the transition to the new regulations, which reduce the allowable number of night landings from six to two and cap overnight flying at 10 hours.

The exemption has angered pilot unions, who argue that safety standards should not be loosened to compensate for IndiGo's planning lapses. C.S. Randhawa, head of the Federation of Indian Pilots, told Reuters that "safety must not be compromised."

The Airline Pilots Association of India called the relief for IndiGo a "selective dispensation," adding that the norms "exist solely to safeguard human life."

The government has also temporarily paused another rule that previously barred pilots from counting personal leave toward their mandatory 48-hour weekly rest period — a relaxation applied to all airlines.

Other major carriers, including Air India and Akasa, have not reported cancellations linked to the new duty-time rules.