Birch Nightclub Owners Escape To Thailand On IndiGo While Passengers Sit Stuck Amid Ongoing Airline Crisis

New Delhi: Even as thousands of passengers across India continued to suffer through week-long IndiGo flight cancellations, the airline succeeded in getting out the two accused in the Birch nightclub fire just hours after the tragedy. The disparity has raised sharp questions about how IndiGo found a seat for the nightclub owners, Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, while common travellers struggled to even reach their destinations. Around midnight, the Birch nightclub in Arpora, Goa, caught fire, killing at least 25 people and seriously injuring numerous more. 

However, the Luthra brothers had already boarded IndiGo aircraft 6E 1073 to Phuket and departed the country by 5.30 AM on Sunday, just a few hours after the tragedy. When the Goa Police reached their Delhi home, the house was empty. Both the legal notification and the Look-Out Circular (LoC) were issued too late. Since India and Thailand have an extradition pact, the accused are currently in Thailand, and the CBI's Interpol section has been called in to handle their extradition. 

A Big Question: How Could IndiGo Fly the Owners Out While Passengers Were Grounded?

A larger concern surfaced at airports as investigators raced to find the nightclub owners: how did IndiGo manage to successfully fly the accused out of the nation when thousands of regular passengers had been suffering for almost a week? Due to crew shortages brought on by the recently implemented Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) regulations, IndiGo has had to cancel hundreds of flights for the past six days. Out of its typical 2,300 flights, the airline cancelled about 650 on Sunday alone. 

Tens of thousands of travellers missed weddings, job interviews, and doctors' appointments because they were stuck. Long lines, confusion, piled-up baggage, and dissatisfaction over inadequate communication were observed at airports all around the nation. Due to IndiGo's dominance of more than 65% of India's domestic aviation market, the industry as a whole was affected, and other airlines were unable to handle the surplus.

In light of this, the Luthra brothers' escape aboard an IndiGo flight has sparked difficult concerns. A few hours after the disaster, the defendants in a case involving 25 deaths were able to fly out while the general public waited in vain and begged for tickets. The owners of the nightclub at the center of a big tragedy cleared airport procedures and departed the country without any problems, while people endured at terminals with cancelled tickets and no other options. Many have expressed outrage at the disparity, questioning how IndiGo operated a flight for the brothers but not for the thousands of passengers who had been stuck for the entire week. 

IndiGo’s Staffing Crisis Under New Pilot Rest Rules

The DGCA's complete implementation of the new FDTL regulations on November 1, 2025, is the cause of the airline's issue. These regulations limited consecutive night duties, capped night-duty hours, extended the nighttime window to midnight–6 am, raised weekly rest from 36 to 48 hours, and reduced the frequency of late-night landings per week.   

The number of flying hours available to each pilot decreased due to these modifications. Although IndiGo miscalculated the number of pilots it would require after the regulations were fully enforced, airlines were notified as early as January 2024, and the transition started in July 2025. IndiGo needed 2,422 captains for its sizable fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft, but it only had 2,357, and first officers were also in low supply. When numerous pilots reached their required rest intervals at the same time, the airline's long-standing strategy of low personnel, high aircraft utilization, and nearly no roster buffer fell apart.

IndiGo issued refunds, waivers, and a gradual recovery plan after regulators intervened with fare restrictions and recommendations. However, recovery has been sluggish because IndiGo and Air India together dominate more than 91% of the domestic market. Despite the airline's efforts to normalize operations, passengers nevertheless had to deal with uncertainty.

One Airline, Two Crises, and a Disturbing Contrast

One striking contrast continues to be at the core of the narrative as police pursue two fugitive criminals across international borders while passengers throughout India continue to suffer from widespread cancellations. 

Just hours after a fire that claimed 25 lives, the same airline that had been unable to transport regular customers for almost a week was able to evacuate the proprietors of the Birch nightclub. In the aviation industry as well as in the management of a case that has already claimed numerous lives, this disparity has heightened public indignation and sparked grave concerns about priorities, scheduling, and systemic shortcomings.