‘7 Months Of Hard Work Wasted’: Smart India Hackathon 2025 Participant Weeps After IndiGo Flight Gets Cancelled; Watch

Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport witnessed long queues and distressed passengers on Saturday as IndiGo’s nationwide operational crisis continued. The situation unfolded even after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) kept its Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) directive on hold.

Despite the temporary relief, delays and cancellations continued across IndiGo’s network. Airport officials said seven incoming flights and twelve departures were cancelled between midnight and 6 a.m. The repeated disruptions led to heavily crowded terminals and growing inconvenience for travellers who struggled to find alternative routes for their journeys.

#WATCH | A passenger, Mahrishi Jani, says, “I was scheduled to go to Guwahati on a 6.15 am flight; this was a connecting flight from Kolkata. We were selected for Smart India Hackathon 2025; about 74,000 ideas were submitted there and nearly 1400 ideas were selected. Our centre… pic.twitter.com/BhomZiaiC2

— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2025

Hackathon Team Misses Travel After Sudden Cancellation

One of the severely affected passengers, Mahrishi Jani, said the cancellation ruined months of preparation for the Smart India Hackathon 2025. He said he was scheduled to travel to Guwahati on a 6.15 a.m. flight with a connecting flight from Kolkata. His team was among the 1,400 selected ideas from 74,000 submissions.

#WATCH | Gujarat: A passenger weeps at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, long queues of passengers seen here as a few IndiGo flights stand cancelled yet again.

The Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) orders of the DGCA have been placed in abeyance with… pic.twitter.com/8qmI72w2uN

— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2025

Their event was scheduled at North-Eastern Hill University. Jani said the cancellation left all eight members – six students and two mentors – without any workable plan. He added that alternative travel by train would take three days, leaving them unable to attend the competition.

Passengers Continue to Face Delays and Uncertainty

Another traveller, Ikhlaq Hussain, said he remained stranded despite arriving from Jeddah. He said he planned to travel to Lucknow but had been stuck for two days because his connecting flights kept getting delayed. Many passengers reported similar issues at Ahmedabad airport, with repeated schedule changes adding to their difficulties.

Airport authorities said teams were deployed to manage queues and guide passengers. They added that further updates would depend on IndiGo’s operations. The airline continued to adjust schedules to manage its fleet and crew constraints, which caused disruptions across several Indian cities.

Must Read: Meet Rahul Bhatia, The Owner Of IndiGo, Hit By Severe Crisis And Backlash After Cancelling Over 400 Flights On 5th Consecutive day, What Is His Net Worth?

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