New Delhi, Dec. 4 -- IndiGo, was thrown into severe operational turmoil on Wednesday as more than 200 cancellations and widespread delays triggered chaotic scenes at airports nationwide.

What began as an attempt to comply with stringent new pilot-rest rules quickly escalated into one of the airline's worst disruptions in recent years, leaving thousands stranded and prompting a DGCA investigation into the crisis.

IndiGo confirmed that its network had been crippled by cascading operational failures, warning passengers to expect further disruption through Friday.

"We acknowledge that IndiGo's operations have been significantly disrupted across the network for the past two days, and we sincerely apologise to our customers for the inconveni...