• Delhi: Five flights less

• Mumbai: Three flights less

• Bengaluru: Three flights less

The city’s connectivity with major cities has been significantly impacted after IndiGo curtailed daily flights, airport sources said on Wednesday.

According to airport officials, the airline operated 202 flights in and out of Calcutta on Wednesday, down from an average of over 240 flights per day.

Flight frequencies were reduced to several key destinations, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Guwahati, and Bagdogra, officials said.

The curbs come after the civil aviation ministry on Tuesday directed IndiGo to reduce its overall winter flight schedule by 10 per cent to stabilise operations and limit cancellations.

With around 2,300 domestic and international flights daily, the airline will now cut about 230 flights. The aim is to operate a leaner, more efficient fleet and ease the crisis that led to thousands of cancellations in the past week.

The cutbacks, combined with passenger apprehensions, have led to a sharp fall in domestic passenger traffic at the Calcutta airport. On Tuesday, officials said the airport handled 22,010 arrivals and 22,794 departures in the domestic sector. In contrast, on November 30 — before the surge of cancellations — it handled 29,000 arrivals and 28,000 departures.

“Usually, the daily average of domestic passengers is 60,000, rising to 65,000 during the festive season. Now, it has dropped below 45,000,” said an airport official. International passenger numbers have remained steady.

Frequent fliers noted the unusually quiet departure areas in the domestic section. “I went around 4.30pm and found one block of IndiGo counters completely empty. It was unthinkable even a week ago,” a passenger said.

IndiGo operates two check-in portals, B and C, each with 20 counters. On Wednesday afternoon, half of the counters at both portals were empty.

IndiGo sources said passenger numbers are gradually picking up, with Delhi and Mumbai flights showing strong occupancy. However, officials pointed out that these figures reflect reduced flight numbers.

In a social media post, IndiGo said: “Over the past few days... we have had all hands on deck. The CEO and his team have been leading from the front... to normalise flight operations and secure network stability.”

It added: “The Board has been closely monitoring the situation while the Crisis Management Group... has been meeting every day, and actively working with the CEO, the senior management and various teams deployed on the ground to restore normalcy in operations.”