Indigo airlines cancels flights amid rising protests in Bangladesh

Dhaka: Indigo has announced the cancellation of flights scheduled for August 5 due to the escalating protests in Bangladesh. The airline has issued an apology for the inconvenience and disruption caused to the travelers. IndiGo has flights to Dhaka from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. As of now, all flights stand cancelled.

In a statement on X, Indigo said, “In view of the ongoing situation in Dhaka, all flights scheduled for tomorrow have unfortunately been canceled. We understand that this may cause significant inconvenience and disruption to your travel plans and we sincerely regret this development.”

Earlier, Air India had also cancelled all its flights to and from Dhaka and issued a one-time waiver to on rescheduling and cancellation fees for passengers affected by these disruptions. Air India operates two daily flights from Delhi to Dhaka, Vistara flies daily flights from Mumbai and three weekly services from Delhi to Dhaka

Amid the intensified protest in Bangladesh, Shahjalal International Airport has closed its operations for six hours.

This decision comes in the wake of significant unrest in Bangladesh. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country on Monday amid growing turmoil. Following her departure, thousands of protesters stormed the Prime Minister’s official residence in Dhaka, resulting in widespread vandalism.

The unrest has persisted despite a Supreme Court ruling last month that drastically reduced the quota system, which had allocated up to 30% of government jobs to relatives of veterans from the country’s war of independence against Pakistan. The government's attempts to suppress the demonstrations with force have led to nearly 300 deaths since mid-July.

(With inputs from agencies)