Singapore High Commissioner to India misses staffer's wedding amid IndiGo flight chaos, attends virtually instead

Singapore's high commissioner to India Simon Wong was forced to attend a staff member's wedding virtually, amid mass cancellations by India flight carrier IndiGo in the country.

Posting on X on Dec 5, Wong shared that he "joined tens of thousands of passengers stranded" by the IndiGo crisis, revealing that his flight from Delhi to Deoghar, a holy city in the state of Jharkhand, was cancelled.

In the same post, he apologised to the staff member, stating that he was "lost for words".

Wong then posted photos of him attending the wedding virtually through his phone, dressed in traditional Indian attire. He shared glimpses of the wedding on his social media account and sent his blessings to the couple in the caption.

"Distance may divide us... but Spirit shaadi (wedding) will unite us," he wrote. "Congratulations and may your marriage be a happy and blessed one".

Wong is one of many wedding attendees who were forced to change their plans due to the week-long 'operational crisis' which has hit Indigo, the country's biggest airline.

The crisis had erupted after the airline failed to plan for a Nov 1 deadline on new pilot safety rules around night flying and weekly rest, leading to rostering issues for the airline.

December coincides with the peak time for holidays and weddings in India, Reuters reported.

On Friday (Dec 5), IndiGo cancelled more than 1,000 flights.

According to Reuters, many rushed to reschedule their weddings — a huge affair in India — and at least one couple was even forced to attend their own reception virtually as a result.

India's government subsequently exempted the airline from the new rule and increased train capacity to clear the backlog, but hundreds of passengers still remain stranded in major cities such as Mumbai and Bengaluru on Saturday five days into the crisis, according to Reuters.

The airline's problems seemingly has also extended to international flights, with one user on Dec 7 posting on X about a seven-hour delay at Changi Airport for a Singapore-Bengaluru flight. AsiaOne has reached out to the user about the situation.

Operations continued as usual for other major Indian airlines such as Air India and Akasa, which have not had to cancel their flights, Reuters reported. 

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daoen.wong@asiaone.com