CHENNAI: Fifty-four Indigo flights were cancelled and 51 were delayed on Thursday due to the ongoing nationwide operational crisis in the airlines due to the new duty regulations for pilots and crew, recently enforced by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Twenty-three flights, which were scheduled for Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Kolkata, Goa, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bangalore, Kochi and Colombo were cancelled.

And 31 flights which were supposed to arrive from Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Andaman, Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, Goa, Pune, Kochi, Coimbatore, Visakhapatnam and Sri Lanka were also cancelled.

Further 21 flights which departed to Kuwait, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Andaman, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Bangalore, Madurai, Tiruchy and Coimbatore, were delayed by one to five hours.

Meanwhile, 30 arriving flights from Singapore, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Doha, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Goa, Pune, Madurai, Tiruchy, and Coimbatore were also delayed.

However, the passengers claimed that there was no proper information given in the Chennai airport regarding the cancellations and delays. The passengers mentioned that instead of displaying cancelled, several affected flights were marked as Unknown.

Passengers said that even enquiries at airline counters, airport service desks, and security personnel failed to provide clear information.

Airport sources said the number of affected flights was likely to increase further by midnight.