IndiGo on Sunday said it would withdraw 20% of its flights as the surge in COVID-19 cases had hit travel demand.
The airline will also offer free changes for all new and existing bookings made before January 31 for travel until March 31.
“Where possible, cancellations of flights will be done at least 72 hours in advance and customers will be moved to the next available flight and will also be able to change their travel through the use of Plan B on our website,” said the airline, which normally operates nearly 1,500 flights per day.
The revision in capacity from the airline that caters to every six in 10 domestic passengers comes at a time airlines are being forced to fly relatively emptier aircraft. According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s data, seat occupancy in various airlines was down to 55% to 70%.
The surge in cases has also brought down the number of domestic travellers — from above three lakh daily passengers to 2.6 lakh passengers on January 7. Passenger traffic in the first seven days of January had dropped by 16% compared to the same period last month.