New Delhi, Dec. 5 -- As many as 16,500 passengers in Delhi alone were affected by the 163 domestic IndiGo flights that were cancelled on Thursday, while 98 of 101 departures were delayed, Hindustan Times (HT) reported. Several of these passengers were reportedly left stranded for over 24 hours amid IndiGo's operational crisis.

HT report, citing a Delhi airport official, said that the average delay per flight was 160 minutes; the airline cancelled 77 arrivals and 86 departures, all domestic flights, due to crew-related issues.

The situation was made worse by the missing luggage at the airport - HT cited some passengers as saying that they had not recovered the baggage checked in three to four days earlier.

During a visit to Indira Gandh...