In December 2025, flight disruptions occurred at IndiGo after the DGCA introduced stricter crew duty and rest rules. These new rules reduced pilots’ flying hours and increased their mandatory rest time. IndiGo was not prepared, which led to large-scale delays and cancellations, leaving passengers stranded in major cities like Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Mumbai (here, here and here).
In this context, a video (here, here, here and here) is going viral on social media that shows large crowds at an airport, with many people waiting with luggage at the baggage counters. This video is being shared with the claim that it depicts Hyderabad airport amid widespread IndiGo flight cancellations. Let’s examine the truth behind this video.
Claim: The viral video shows heavy rush at Hyderabad airport due to IndiGo flight cancellations.
Fact: The video is not from Hyderabad. News reports and Google Maps’ 360-degree views confirm that the visuals are from Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru. Hence, the claim is MISLEADING.
To find the truth, we performed a reverse image search using several keyframes from the viral video, including visuals of the luggage counters. This led us to the same visuals published by multiple mainstream news outlets such as The Hindu and Deccan Herald, among others, while reporting on the IndiGo flight cancellation situation. All these reports stated that the visuals were from Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, and were recorded on 5 December 2025.
A side-by-side comparison of the viral video and the photos published by Deccan Herald further confirms that both are from the same location.
We also examined the 360-degree indoor view of Kempegowda International Airport available on Google Maps. A side-by-side comparison of the viral video with the Google Maps imagery clearly matches the same terminal area near the check-in counters at Terminal 1 (T1) of Bengaluru International Airport. Key features such as the escalator, pillars, signboards, and counters visible in the viral video perfectly match the Google Maps view, confirming that the video is from Bengaluru airport and not from Hyderabad.
Furthermore, several vlogs shot inside Bengaluru airport also show the same structural layout, which further validates that the viral footage is from Bengaluru (here, here and here).
Although heavy crowding was also reported at Hyderabad airport during the IndiGo cancellations and several rush-related videos were covered by the media (here, here and here), the viral video in question is not from Hyderabad airport.
To sum up, this video from Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru, during the IndiGo flight cancellations in December 2025, is shared as visuals from Hyderabad Airport.
