Hundreds of passengers traveling from New Delhi to Dubai faced significant disruptions this week as two SpiceJet flights experienced delays of approximately 30 and 19 hours, respectively. The airline attributed the delays to operational issues following the grounding of an aircraft. A total of 290 passengers were impacted by the scheduling changes.
- Flight SG 5111 delayed by roughly 30 hours
- Flight SG 5105 delayed by about 19 hours
- Third flight SG 9511 also rescheduled
- Passengers staged a protest at Terminal 3
Flight SG 5111, which was scheduled to depart from Indira Gandhi International Airport at 7:45 a.m. on Monday, September 16, 2026, eventually took off at approximately 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The flight carried approximately 130 passengers and was delayed by roughly 30 hours. A second flight,
SG 5105, was scheduled for 6:45 p.m. on Monday but did not depart until Tuesday afternoon, marking a delay of about 19 hours for its 160 passengers. Furthermore, a third flight,
SG 9511, on the same route was also rescheduled as the aircraft availability issues impacted subsequent rotations.
Disappointed by the repeated changes to departure times,
passengers staged a protest at Terminal 3 of the Delhi airport. Airport authorities provided food, beverages, and other essential support to the affected individuals. SpiceJet issued a statement expressing regret for the inconvenience and noted that alternate arrangements were made to accommodate passengers.
Under the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s Passenger Charter and DGCA regulations,
airlines are required to provide meals and refreshments to checked-in passengers for flights with a block time of 3 to 4 hours if delays exceed 2.5 to 3 hours. Additionally, for delays exceeding 24 hours,
airlines are obligated to provide hotel accommodation and airport transfers. Passengers are advised to retain boarding passes, booking references, communication from the airline, and receipts for any self-funded expenses to facilitate potential reimbursement claims or travel insurance inquiries. Grievances can be registered through airline customer support or the AirSewa platform.
