CHENNAI: Flight services were affected at the Chennai airport as pilots and engineers were on leave following the Vinayaga Chaturthi festival on Monday.

The Indigo Airlines flights, which was scheduled to leave to Mumbai at 3 am, Madurai at 10.20 am, and another to Mumbai at 8 am, were cancelled at the last minute since the pilot and engineering team were not available.

Flights that were supposed to arrive from Madurai and Mumbai were also cancelled on Monday. There were some delays in take-off too due to shortage of cabin crew.

Flights to Andaman, Kozhikode, Kolkata and Hyderabad, Tiruchy, Madurai, Goa and Mumbai were delayed for up to two hours. The airlines did not give proper announcements regarding the cancellation and delays. So, passengers had to wait for a long time at the airport without getting any update.

Airport sources attributed the confusion to last-minute leave by pilots, which left the authorities no alternative way to operate the flights.