Woman damages Bhubaneswar airport property worth Rs 49,000 over IndiGo flight cancellation

An IndiGo airline woman passenger allegedly damaged airport property worth Rs 49,000 after her flight from Bhubaneswar to Kolkata was cancelled on Thursday (Augus 13).

A statement from IndiGo on Friday said that one of the customers caused damage to airport property and was declared “unruly” and later handed over to security agencies.

Reports said that authorities have lodged a police complaint against the woman.

What IndiGo said

"IndiGo flight 6E 7352, scheduled to operate from Bhubaneswar to Kolkata on August 13, 2026, was cancelled due to a technical snag identified during the mandatory pre-departure inspection of the aircraft," an IndiGo spokesperson said in a statement.

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"We regret the inconvenience caused to our customers and took all efforts to minimise the same including offering them regular updates, refreshments, accommodation and alternate travel options or full refunds as applicable. During this, one of the customers who caused damage to the airport property was declared unruly and handed over to relevant security agencies in line with standard operating procedures," the statement read.

Video shared on X

The incident happened at Bhubaneswar’s Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA). Videos of the incident showed the woman in a heated altercation with IndiGo staff while talking on her phone and picking up something and throwing it in anger.

Later, she was seen arguing with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) staff as one of the lady security personnel tried to pull her away. Some of the fellow passengers were seen arguing with CISF staff and some were recording the incident on their phones.

'Her son not well'

According to a post on X (Formerly Twitter), a person shared the video of the incident and quoted a traveller as saying, "Our flight was scheduled for 2:35 PM. All of a sudden, it was cancelled at 5:30 PM without properly informing the passengers. We are stranded at Bhubaneswar Airport and have received no satisfactory response."

Another user on X shared the video and said that the woman became angry as her son was unwell and she had to visit him.

“Her son was not well and she needed to visit her son, She was not given timely information about the cancellation even after waiting for 3 hours. Flight cancellations can be frustrating, but airport staff are often not responsible for them. Be angry at the situation, not at the people doing their job. Always speak respectfully and maintain basic decency,” the person wrote.