SpiceJet said it canceled Mumbai-Gorakhpur flight SG553 on Nov. 1 because the airport could not extend its operating hours past 10:30 a.m. ET (3:30 p.m. UTC; 9 p.m. IST).
The airline identified Gorakhpur as a defence airport. It said it arranged additional commercial flight SG9553 for Nov. 2 to assist passengers affected by the cancellation. The statement gave no departure or arrival time and did not confirm when passengers reached Gorakhpur.
SpiceJet’s published timetable listed SG553 as departing Mumbai at 6:30 a.m. ET (11:30 a.m. UTC; 5 p.m. IST) and arriving in Gorakhpur at 9 a.m. ET (2 p.m. UTC; 7:30 p.m. IST). That scheduled arrival was 90 minutes before the cutoff cited by the airline. The timetable covered Oct. 28, 2026, through Mar. 27, 2027, and does not show whether the flight’s timing changed on Nov. 1.
NDTV Profit reported that passenger Vijay Lakshmi Mallya questioned how the cancellation was handled. The outlet said she alleged that departure times changed repeatedly and passengers waited onboard for about an hour before the cancellation was announced. Those details have not been independently confirmed.
