NEW DELHI – Traditional wedding functions are a big affair in India, but they have become a major casualty of the crisis engulfing India’s biggest airline, IndiGo.

IndiGo’s mass cancellations this week

left thousands of passengers stranded

A couple was forced to attend their own wedding reception virtually, many rushed to reschedule, and one family opted for a pricier charter flight.

Even the Singapore High Commissioner to India Simon Wong was trapped in the chaos, posting on X that his flight was cancelled and he was “lost for words” as he could not attend the wedding of a young staff member in the remote town of Deoghar, in eastern India.

The cancellations come during the peak wedding season – a US$130 billion (S$168.35 billion) sector in India in which families spend a large chunk of their wealth for extensive, days-long celebrations with a high dose of music, dance and gifts.

IndiGo has apologised to customers, but that may not be soothing enough for many to-be-weds.

After their IndiGo flight was cancelled, one newly married couple appeared for their wedding reception on a large screen via video conferencing, and apologised to dozens of guests who had already reached the function’s venue.

The stage where the couple would have sat remained empty.

According to NDTV news channel, the bride’s mother said: “We had invited so many relatives, and it was impossible to cancel the event at the last minute... we decided to have the couple attend the reception online and broadcast their participation on the screen.”

IndiGo has admitted the crisis was a consequence of its failure to prepare in time for strict changes to pilot duty-h...