Omicron alert: household flyers drop 39% in 2 weeks; IndiGo reduces its capacity by 20%
NEW DELHI: With travel demand hit hard due to the surge in Omicron cases, India’s largest passenger airline – IndiGo – has decided to cut capacity by 20%. Like other airlines, it waived the change fee as dozens of people change their travel plans.
“With reduced demand, we will also be selectively removing some of our flights from service. We anticipate that approximately 20% of our current scheduled operations will be retired from service, ”IndiGo said in a statement.
With nearly 3.9 lakh, India recorded its highest number of post-Covid daily leaflets on December 26, 2021. On Saturday (January 8), data from the Ministry of Aviation showed that figure had fallen to 2 , 4 lakh, or a high rate of 39%. On average, around 4.2 lakhs of people flew inside the country during the pre-Covid era, when the peak winter travel season lasted until mid-January.
“Where possible, flight cancellations will be made at least 72 hours in advance and customers will be moved to the next available flight and will also be able to change their trip through the use of Plan B on our website. Since our call center is currently handling a high volume of calls, we encourage our customers to use our digital channels whenever possible, ”he added.
Like almost every other airline, IndiGo said it waived the change fee. “Due to the growing number of Omicron infections, a large number of IndiGo customers are changing their travel plans. In response to customer needs, IndiGo waives change fees and offers free changes for all new and existing bookings made through January 31 for flights through March 31, 2022, ”he added.
The surge in the number of Omicron cases has eclipsed the brief period of sunshine the Indian travel industry has experienced in recent months.
Fear of getting infected, stricter testing and state quarantine standards have led to a drop in the number and an increase in cancellations.
Bengal has restricted domestic flights from Delhi and Mumbai. The most affected traffic is metro-to-metro traffic due to the combined decline in business, leisure and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel.
“With reduced demand, we will also be selectively removing some of our flights from service. We anticipate that approximately 20% of our current scheduled operations will be retired from service, ”IndiGo said in a statement.
With nearly 3.9 lakh, India recorded its highest number of post-Covid daily leaflets on December 26, 2021. On Saturday (January 8), data from the Ministry of Aviation showed that figure had fallen to 2 , 4 lakh, or a high rate of 39%. On average, around 4.2 lakhs of people flew inside the country during the pre-Covid era, when the peak winter travel season lasted until mid-January.
“Where possible, flight cancellations will be made at least 72 hours in advance and customers will be moved to the next available flight and will also be able to change their trip through the use of Plan B on our website. Since our call center is currently handling a high volume of calls, we encourage our customers to use our digital channels whenever possible, ”he added.
Like almost every other airline, IndiGo said it waived the change fee. “Due to the growing number of Omicron infections, a large number of IndiGo customers are changing their travel plans. In response to customer needs, IndiGo waives change fees and offers free changes for all new and existing bookings made through January 31 for flights through March 31, 2022, ”he added.
The surge in the number of Omicron cases has eclipsed the brief period of sunshine the Indian travel industry has experienced in recent months.
Fear of getting infected, stricter testing and state quarantine standards have led to a drop in the number and an increase in cancellations.
Bengal has restricted domestic flights from Delhi and Mumbai. The most affected traffic is metro-to-metro traffic due to the combined decline in business, leisure and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel.