Diwali travel chaos as SpiceJet cancels flights across India

Diwali holiday travel across India has been thrown into disarray as multiple SpiceJet flights have been cancelled or heavily delayed in the days leading up to the festival, leaving passengers scrambling for alternative routes and in many cases stuck overnight at airports.

Wave of cancellations hits key Diwali routes

In the first week of November, passengers booked on SpiceJet services from major cities including Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Pune reported abrupt cancellations or long delays, often only hours before scheduled departure. Reports indicate that affected routes include domestic connections to Patna, Varanasi, Bagdogra and Kerala destinations, which are typically in high demand around Diwali and the Chhath festival.

From Ahmedabad, regional coverage notes that several SpiceJet departures on November 7 were either cancelled or subject to significant delays, disrupting vacation plans for travellers headed to eastern and southern India. Local reports describe Diwali holidaymakers waiting through rolling delay announcements before flights were eventually marked cancelled.

In Pune, a family travelling to Patna for Diwali and Chhath reported that their evening flight was first delayed by several hours and then pushed to an early morning departure time before being cancelled outright during the night. Passengers described spending much of the night inside Pune airport while attempting to rebook during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

Individual complaints shared on consumer grievance platforms describe similar patterns on Mumbai to Kolkata and other festival routes, with some travellers being told at the airport that all SpiceJet flights for the day on particular sectors had been cancelled, and that they would need to return the following day to attempt travel again.

SpiceJet offers refunds and rebooking as pressure mounts

In a public statement responding to the mounting disruption, SpiceJet has said that a majority of passengers affected by cancellations have been accommodated on alternate flights. According to the airline’s published information, affected customers are being offered options that include a full refund, a change of flight or travel date, and in some cases a change of destination to a nearby alternate airport without additional cancellation charges or fare differences.

The airline’s statement emphasises that these measures are being provided to minimise inconvenience and to ensure that travellers still reach their destinations during the festival period. However, accounts on social media and third party booking platforms indicate that not all passengers have been able to secure timely alternative flights, particularly on heavily booked routes where remaining seats on other carriers are limited and fares have risen sharply ahead of Diwali.

Some passengers also report delays in receiving refunds after opting not to travel, especially where bookings were made through online travel agencies or digital wallet services. In several cases, travellers say they were shown cancellation confirmations but had not yet seen the corresponding credit returned to their original payment method while they were attempting to make new festive bookings.

SpiceJet has not publicly detailed the total number of flights affected in the Diwali period, nor provided a breakdown of routes most impacted. Available coverage suggests that the disruption has been spread across multiple metro and tier two city pairs rather than being limited to a single hub.

Operational and financial strain behind the disruptions

The latest cancellations come against a backdrop of broader operational strain at SpiceJet. Business coverage of the airline in early November highlights a shrinking active fleet, high rates of delayed services and recurring reports of last minute cancellations on domestic and international routes. Analysts point to a combination of financial pressure, aircraft availability issues and network adjustments as contributing factors.

Recent reports tracking flight performance over the first week of November indicate that SpiceJet has recorded elevated cancellation and delay levels on several days, with disruption reported at major airports including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Kolkata. Passengers on some international routes, such as services between Dubai and Indian metros, have also described cancellations where rebooking options were limited.

Regulatory filings and previous public statements show that the carrier has been working to stabilise its operations through leasing additional aircraft and restructuring parts of its network. At the same time, aviation commentators note that demand peaks such as Diwali place extra stress on already stretched schedules, leaving less margin to recover when aircraft go out of service or crew rotations are disrupted.

While other Indian airlines also occasionally cancel or reschedule services around weather or airport constraints, the recent pattern of multi route SpiceJet cancellations in a short time frame has drawn particular attention from travellers and consumer advocates during this festive period.

Passengers face soaring fares and limited alternatives

The timing of the cancellations has made it difficult and expensive for affected passengers to find new options. By the first week of November, one way fares on many popular Diwali routes had already risen well above off season levels as remaining seats on rival carriers were snapped up. Travellers arriving at airports to learn of their cancellations have reported that same day alternatives on other airlines were either unavailable or several times the price originally paid.

In Ahmedabad and Pune, reports describe families weighing whether to pay significantly higher prices on other carriers, rebook on later dates that would cut short their holiday or cancel plans altogether. Some travellers have turned to lengthy rail journeys as a fallback, but last minute train availability ahead of Diwali and Chhath is also extremely limited, especially on routes toward Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Passengers from Mumbai and other large metros have shared that even where SpiceJet provided rebooking on later services, those flights were also at risk of further delay or cancellation. This created additional uncertainty for travellers with fixed religious ceremonies, family events or connecting journeys booked from their arrival cities.

Consumer forums and social media posts reflect growing frustration among holidaymakers who say that they budgeted and booked well in advance for what is often their most important trip of the year, only to face last minute disruptions that could not easily be resolved without substantial extra expense.

Know your rights when flights are cancelled in India

The disruption has revived interest in passenger protection rules that apply when flights are cancelled in India. Under the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s regulations, airlines are required to inform passengers of cancellations at least two weeks before the scheduled departure and offer either a full refund or an alternative flight at no additional cost. If a flight is cancelled closer to the departure date, travellers may also be entitled to additional compensation or care benefits, depending on the circumstances and the reason provided for the cancellation.

Publicly available summaries of these rules highlight that if travellers are notified less than 24 hours before departure and the alternate flight offered results in a delay of more than a specified number of hours, they can generally choose between a refund and re routing without extra charges. In practice, however, passengers often need to actively request these options from airlines or booking intermediaries at busy airport counters or through call centres.

Travel advisers suggest that during peak festival periods, passengers whose flights are cancelled should first obtain written confirmation of the cancellation and any options being offered, then compare those with published DGCA norms to determine eligibility for a refund, rebooking or compensation. Where communication from the airline is unclear, passengers can escalate through airline grievance channels, airport facilitation desks or centralised helplines.

For Diwali and Chhath travellers caught up in the current wave of SpiceJet disruptions, the immediate priority remains finding a way to reach family in time for the celebrations. As the festival period continues, observers will be watching to see whether the airline’s promised rebooking and refund efforts are enough to restore confidence among passengers planning their next trip.