India’s air connection to China third time unlucky

Early this year, IndiGo – India’s largest carrier by fleet and market share – announced new flights connecting Mumbai to Chengdu. This would complement the airline’s operations to China; it already operated flights to Chengdu from New Delhi and to Guangzhou from Kolkata. In addition to mainland China, the airline operated flights to Hong Kong from Kolkata and Bengaluru. IndiGo was buoyant about its China operations and even started a call centre in Guangzhou.

Then came the crash – Coronavirus started impacting travel to/from China in January and soon swell into a global phenomenon. As of today, IndiGo -- like all other airlines in India -- is grounded. IndiGo was on a sprint to increase its international presence as was told by its top management in successive calls with investors and analysts post declaration of their quarterly results. It is déjà vu when it comes to India-China operations!

For a long period of time, there have been destinations where foreign carriers were successful and Indian carriers hardly ventured or failed. A good glimpse of this can be found in the utilisation of bilateral rights. The India-Malaysia bilateral had 100 percent utilisation by the Malaysian side and zero from Indian side, until IndiGo launched operations. It was the same story for Turkey as well.  The story was more or less similar to China and a couple of places in the Middle East until a few years ago.

The India–China Air Services Agreement (ASA) allows 42 weekly services or 6 daily flights between the two countries. Hong Kong is not part of the ASA between India and China. Data for last year, before IndiGo launched operations, showed that Chinese carriers utilised 41 of those 42 services while Air India was the sole carrier to ply to China with five weekly services.
31/03/20 Ameya Joshi/moneycontrol.com

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Amid Lockdown, Indigo Operates Flight From Delhi To Jodhpur For Iran-returned Indians

Mumbai: In-line with its commitment to provide support to the nation in the current scenario, IndiGo operated a relief flight from Delhi to Jodhpur on March 29, 2020. India is currently under a 21-day lockdown till April 14 to curb the spread of the coronavirus and consequently, all international and domestic commercial passenger flights have been suspended for this period.

However, as per an official statement,  the flight 6E-9121 operated by 2 captains and 4 cabin crew, carried 139 Indian passengers to Jodhpur to be shifted to the Army isolation centre. All passengers were certified as being corona negative prior to the flight. These passengers had arrived from Iran to Delhi on another flight as part of the evacuation process of Indian citizens from the Covid-2019 impacted countries.

Furthermore, the statement apprised about the precautionary measures while checking in and operating the flight, including overall staff, crew and aircraft maintenance engineers using personal protective equipment like masks and gloves, spraying disinfectant on all the bags prior to loading, meal boxes placed on seats prior to boarding and passenger disembarkation in lots of 20 and x-ray treatment of all check-in baggage.
Meanwhile, Indian airlines are currently in "grave and immediate danger" of insolvency as a result of disruption in air travel due to the coronavirus pandemic that can reduce about 5.75 lakh jobs in the Indian aviation industry, global airlines body IATA has told Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
29/03/20 Prachi Mankani/Republic World

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IndiGo, SpiceJet operate special Delhi-Jodhpur flights

New Delhi: Airline majors IndiGo and SpiceJet on Sunday operated two relief flights from Delhi to Jodhpur.

Accordingly, these independent flights of the two airlines were operated to ferry 136 (SpiceJet) and 139 (IndiGo) passengers from New Delhi to Army Isolation centre in Jodhpur. These passengers had come back from Iran to Delhi.

As per SpiceJet, it operated a special flight from Delhi to Jodhpur for 136 Indian nationals evacuated from COVID-19 hit Iran who have been taken to a government quarantine facility in the city.

"This special flight SG 9001 was operated as per the Government of India''s request and the airline had deployed its Boeing 737 aircraft fo r this purpose," the airline said in a statement.

On its part, IndiGo said that its flight 6E-9121 operated by two captains and four cabin crew, carried 139 Indian passengers to Jodhpur. These passengers are to be shifted to the Army Isolation centre.

"All passengers were certified as being corona negative prior to the flight. These passengers had arrived from Iran to Delhi on another flight as part of the evacuation of Indian citizens from the Covid-2019 impacted countries," the airline said in a statement.
29/03/20 Outlook

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Seven flights transport medical supplies

The Air India and the IndiGo operated seven flights to 13 destinations to transport medical supplies, according to a senior official co-ordinating relief efforts along with the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The Air India flew a Boeing 787 from Mumbai to Delhi and back and an Airbus A 320 from Delhi to Imphal carrying medical equipment and medicines, according to the airline’s spokesperson.

Its subsidiary Alliance Air also operated three flights on its smaller 72-seater aircraft including Delhi-Raipur-Bhubaneswar-Delhi sector, Kolkata-Tripura and Mumbai-Pune-Raipur.
The IndiGo also operated a flight from Delhi to Bengaluru with four stops in between, which included Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. It carried 3 tonnes of cargo for medical requirements.
28/03/20 The Hindu

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After IndiGo, GoAir, Vistara airlines cuts pay by about 10%

New Delhi: After IndiGo and GoAir, Vistara has also cut employee pay by about 10% to survive the severe turbulence caused by coronavirus. The Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines JV is also asking its staff to take leave without pay for varying periods till April 15, when domestic and international flights may resume in India unless that date is extended again to control the spread of the pandemic.
While we are doing all possible including a recruitment freeze, we have to look at other means to further reduce our cost. Therefore, for the period April 1-14, 2020, all staff (except some) will be required to go on a few days (ranging from one to 3) of compulsory no pay leave (CNPL)…. annual salary increment exercise in every April for all eligible staff will be deferred to July 1, 2020, and an appropriate decision shall be taken then. For staff in Level 2 and above, the annual pay-out for variable performance pay will be deferred to July 2020,” Vistara CEO Leslie Thng said in a mail to employees.
Accepting the financial implications of these moves on employees, Thng has termed the corona-caused impact as unprecedented in terms of impact on “business and cash flow. Our main priority is to preserve job and maintain employment for everyone within the Vistara family.”
27/03/20 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Indigo crew member gets emotional talking about how people are spreading rumours that she has coronavirus

Mumbai: Coronavirus is keeping everyone on self-isolation mode as PM Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown period. While it's natural for people to go a bit haywire, given the fact that we are confined to our restricted homes, some still take it to a whole another level. An Indigo Airlines crew member recently recalled her experience due to the coronavirus scare and how many people within her locality are spreading rumours that she has been diagnosed with COVID-19.

But, that's not all! Given how she stays with her mother in the same house, the latter is also being harassed and refused groceries because they say that her daughter has got coronavirus. "Can't believe how people are treating our airline crew. This @IndiGo6E crew is nearly broken from being discriminated & taunted. When she is gone for her flight, her mother is even refused groceries in her society. Police is also not helping. @amitshah #coronavirus #india," Twitter user Tarun Shukla wrote as he shared the heartbreaking video as the crew member pleads about how she is taking all the right precautions to not be infected.

Can't believe how people are treating our airline crew. This @IndiGo6E crew is nearly broken from being discriminated & taunted. When she is gone for her flight, her mother is even refused groceries in her society. Police is also not helping. @amitshah #coronavirus #india. pic.twitter.com/yuuTnYhqKq

— Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) March 24, 2020

This is truly heartbreaking to watch!

After the tweets went viral, Kolkata police got in touch with the crew member and she feels much safer now. Even though, prior to the police's involvement, many goons threatened her!

Even Air India had to put out a statement as the situation got very bad for their crew members. "However it is alarming to note that in many localities, vigilante Resident Welfare Associations and neighbours have started ostracizing the crew, obstructing them from performing their duty or even calling in the police, simply because the crew travelled abroad in the course of their duty. These vigilantes have conveniently forgotten that many a spouse, parent, sibling, child and near and dear one have been brought home safe and secure from affected countries, thanks to the heroic efforts of these Air India crew." their statement on Twitter read.
25/03/20 Karishma Shetty/Pink Villa

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Airlines seek govt help to pay staff salary as coronavirus grounds aviation

Airlines have sought help from the government to help them pay employees’ salaries as the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak has forced the authorities to stop air transport till March 31.

Sources aware of the development said, chief executive officers of airlines have asked the government to bear 50 per cent of three months’ salaries of employees.
The demand emanates from the government direction stating that companies shouldn’t fire employees even if functions are stopped because of the pandemic.

“In the backdrop of such challenging situations, all the employees of public or private establishments are advised to extend their coordination by not terminating their employees — particularly casual or contract workers for their job or reduce their wages,” an advisory issued by the Ministry of Labour and Employment said.

Executives of airlines said it is difficult to pay employees as already they function on a wafer-thin margin and are mostly dependent on cash flows, which comes from forward ticket sales.
Airlines say that even after air transport resumes on April 15, and even after that they say that consumer demand will be very weak, forcing them to ground many aircraft. “The period of pain has just started. It’s not that as soon as the ban lifts we will see full flights. It will take at least six months for customer confidence to return. There is an urgent need of government intervention,” the executive said.
According to a calculation by the government, Indian airlines are likely to operate only 30 per cent of their fleet for the next two months.
“Air transport was shut down under a direction from the government. Our cash flow is nil but the fixed costs stay the same. Unlike other businesses, if aircraft don’t fly we still will have to pay lease rentals and salaries. Government should bear some of that burden if they want the business to survive,” said an executive of a private airline.
25/03/20 Arindam Majumder/Business Standard

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SpiceJet, IndiGo offer free cancellation, ticket amount as credit

New Delhi: IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta said on Tuesday that the airline would not be charging any fee for cancelling tickets that are up to April 30, and it would store the ticket price as credit on that PNR, which can be used for alternative booking up to September 30.

Moreover, he stated that those passengers who are booked to travel till September 30, can change their itinerary at zero change fee, for travel up till September 30.

The fare difference would have to be paid by the passenger during the time of alternative booking.

The CEO stated in a press statement, "There are many customers who may wish to make changes to their flight schedules but are unable to get through to our customer relations team because we are swamped with an unprecedented surge in incoming calls and emails."

"Please be assured that your Booking Reference/PNR, will stay safe as a credit account in the same PNR with the same ticket value.

The credit account can be used for travel before September 30, by the same passenger," Dutta noted.

For those who are booked to travel till April 30, they can cancel their itinerary at zero cancellation fee, create credit account in the same PNR and book an alternative travel of the same ticket value, any time up till September 30, he said.
25/03/20 PTI/New Indian Express

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Indigo and Air India staffers harassed by neighbours, Minister seeks protection for the crew

As India's two major airlines Indigo and Air India reported harassment of their crew members by neighbours amid coronavirus pandemic, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday that he has "requested" authorities concerned to extend all possible support and protection to the crew and their family members.
Amid major disruption due to the coronavirus outbreak in the aviation sector, IndiGo had stated on Monday that there have been some instances where its employees were ostracised by their communities as a result of their "line of duty and travel history".
Air India had stated on Sunday that vigilante resident welfare associations (RWAs) and neighbours were ostracising and calling police on its crew members who went abroad as a part of their duty.
According to initial information, nearly 14 crores masks were seized from the Sahar Cargo area.
Puri on Tuesday said at Twitter, "Deeply distressed to know that some aviation professionals who have been at the forefront of India's efforts to prevent and contain the spread of coronavirus & even rescue fellow citizens from COVID-19 around the world are being harassed by their neighbours, RWAs (resident welfare associations) and others."
"I respect the selfless commitment and determination of our professionals and have requested concerned authorities to extend all possible help, support and protection to them and their families including to those who are in self-quarantine," the minister stated.
India has banned all international flights for a period of one week from Sunday.
24/03/20 Pune Mirror

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After Air India, IndiGo Claims 'employees Being Ostracized' Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

Mumbai: Even as the country appreciated and applauded officials working amid the Coronavirus pandemic, commercial airlines IndiGo on Monday stated that some of its employees have been ostracized from their communities due to their line of duty and travel history. In an official statement released on Monday, the airlines stated that it has been following all the advisories issued by the DGCA and has also been taking all precautions, yet, its employees are being ostracized.

"Our operational crew, in all areas, play an equally important role to keep vital services intact. Our colleagues have been working selflessly to serve the country at this critical juncture. Our employees have been the front-runners in bringing our citizens back to the country and enabling them to reach their hometowns even during restricted movements. Please support our operating colleagues in such a difficult time," the statement read.
23/03/20 Jitesh Vachhatani/Republic

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Indigo issues fresh cancellation, rescheduling rules, policy

Indigo airlines cancellation fee, rules, policy: IndiGo has waived-off change fees on domestic flights. The airline has announced that no change fees for flights already booked between March 12, 2020 and March 31, 2020. With an aim to address passengers’ concerns about flight cancellation or reschedule charges due to the spread of Corovirus. IndiGo stated that it has waived off “normal change fees” which will help flyers book flights at affordable fares without worrying about rescheduling and change fees.

For bookings made between March 9, 2020 till March 31, 2020, for any travel date, one can reschedule your journey multiple times, without paying any change fee. However, flight fare difference if any will be applicable. Indigo passengers must take note that the changes have to be made at least 3 days prior to the air travel date.
If the travel date is on or before March 31, 2020, a passenger can reschedule his/her journey several times for travel before March 31, 2020 without paying any change fee. However, one can reschedule your journey only once for travel beyond March 31, 2020 without paying any change fee. Indigo flyers must make changes at least 3 days prior to your currently booked date of travel to avail change fee waiver.
23/03/20 Debjit Sinha/Financial Express

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Indigo issues fresh cancellation, rescheduling rules, policy

Indigo airlines cancellation fee, rules, policy: IndiGo has waived-off change fees on domestic flights. The airline has announced that no change fees for flights already booked between March 12, 2020 and March 31, 2020. With an aim to address passengers’ concerns about flight cancellation or reschedule charges due to the spread of Corovirus. IndiGo stated that it has waived off “normal change fees” which will help flyers book flights at affordable fares without worrying about rescheduling and change fees.

For bookings made between March 9, 2020 till March 31, 2020, for any travel date, one can reschedule your journey multiple times, without paying any change fee. However, flight fare difference if any will be applicable. Indigo passengers must take note that the changes have to be made at least 3 days prior to the air travel date.
23/03/20 Debjit Sinha/Financial Express

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IndiGo staff accused by neighbours in Kolkata of spreading COVID-19 breaks down

Kolkata: Kolkata police has come to the rescue of IndiGo staff who was harassed and taunted by her neighbours who accused her of spreading coronavirus.
The woman is visibly upset and breaks down while narrating her ordeal. She says that her mother is also denied groceries while she is at work.
Kolkata Police tweeted:

Senior officers have spoken to the lady. Local police has been instructed to lend her all possible assistance. Please rest assured,anyone discriminating against heroes, discharging their duties risking their own safety will be dealt with strictly.@CPKolkata @IpsMurlidhar https://t.co/Izzhe7pVHb

— Kolkata Police (@KolkataPolice) March 24, 2020

Air India has also condemned discrimination against crew members who are risking their lives to help rescue stranded Indians from foreign countries.
24/03/20 Sentinel

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IndiGo Says No Salary Deduction For Employees Due To Domestic Flights Suspension

IndiGo airlines operator InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. will not deduct salary of its employees or their leaves due to suspension of domestic flights till March 31.
All domestic flight operations will be suspended from midnight today, as part of the government’s efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus in India.
In an email to IndiGo employees, InterGlobe Aviation’s Chief executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta said the company has "reasonable" level of advanced bookings for April and was "anxious" to fly again—albeit with a reduced capacity. "For those who don't have to be working during this temporary suspension of operations, we will make no deduction of salaries or leaves," Dutta said in the email seen by the Press Trust of India. “Clearly, for the next few weeks, our revenues will be well below our costs and we will have to make our efforts to penny-pinch and preserve cash,” Dutta said in the email.

24/03/20 PTI/Bloomberg|Quint

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Pay Cut Better Than Shutting Airline, Say Indigo, Spicejet Staff

“How do you think we must be feeling like? it affects us all, in every airline,” an irate GoAir crew member remarks, as an unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19 brings the Indian aviation industry to a grinding halt.

The crew member, in his early twenties, feels that although the Indian government’s decision to all domestic and international flights till 31 March 2020 will impact workers in the aviation industry, they cannot risk their health to keep operations going.

But suspension of commercial flights is not where the problem began. In early March, as more cases of coronavirus emerged in India, international flights were the first to take a hit. Several Indian carriers cancelled international flights and by third week of March, Indigo, India’s largest airline by market share, had not only cancelled most of its international flights, but also 25 of them in the domestic market.

While India suspended all commercial domestic flight operations from midnight of 24, PM Modi in his address to the nation on Tuesday announced a 21-day nation-wide lock down period, to arrest the spread of coronavirus. It is not yet clear if the flight ban, officially till 31 March, will get a similar extension.
The fall in air passenger demand pushed tickets prices down, forcing IndiGo to announce a 10-25% pay cut for employees.

Speaking on the condition of absolute anonymity, an Indigo cabin crew with over five years of experience says that she will be taking a 10 percent cut in pay from April, while pilots and captains will take home 15 percent less than their current salary.

But she doesn’t blame the airline at all. In fact, she feels that given the present environment, such cuts are important if airlines are to survive the storm of coronavirus.
24/03/20 Anthony Rozario/Quint

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With Planes Grounded, IndiGo, GoAir Pilots Take Pay-cut

The global onslaught of COVID-19 has cast a shadow on the future of the aviation industry with airlines both at home and abroad announcing pay-cuts and partially suspending services amid mass-scale travel ban in major aviation sectors. The situation for airlines has further turned grim after the Centre’s move to ban all domestic flights in the country from 25 March.

Faced with a sharp dip in air traffic, IndiGo – India’s largest and wealthiest private carrier – prior to the suspension of all domestic flight operations said it will bring into effect a salary-cut of up to 25 percent for its staff.
According to a report in The Economic Times, the no-frills carrier’s CEO Ronojoy Dutta in an e-mail said that senior vice presidents and other executives would face a pay-cut of 20 percent from 1 April, while vice presidents and pilots would be paid 15 percent lesser.
According to the report, while cabin crews employed by the airline would face a five to ten percent pay-cut, Dutta himself has said he would take 25 percent lesser. Aware of how a pay-cut can impact the lives of employees, Dutta, in the letter stated that ‘it is impossible for our company to fly through this economic storm without all of us making some sacrifices.”
Reacting to the ban on domestic flights, aviation expert Jindendra Bhargava said that although airlines, like many other industries, will suffer, the larger point here is to break the chain of transmission.

“No lockdown can be successful if flights are operational. We can’t overlook the major objective, which is containing the coronavirus,” he said.

But expecting airlines to pay full salaries is not advisable as it will only burden its already strained finances. However, he added that “the government and the airlines must come together to ensure that employees have enough to sustain themselves.”
24/03/20 Anthony Rozario/Quint

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How Indigo improved turnaround times for its flights

Soon after joining the airlines in 2018, Sourav Sinha, the air carrier’s CIO was once flying with Indigo itself. After the plane landed, he stumbled upon the crew members, they were hurriedly jotting down something on a paper.
At that time, Sinha wasn’t aware of what the crew members were doing.
Given the time-critical environment airlines operate in, every minute counts but looking at in-flight cabin crew devoting 15 minutes in the hubbub, Sinha decided to do something about it.
Reaching the office, he inquired about what was exactly happening.
This was a standard activity across all Indigo aircraft where cabin crew used to reconcile the cash, credit card receipts and the inventory from F&B services onboard.
According to Sinha, ancillary services like offering food (in-flight) is critical for the low-cost carrier’s business model. However, managing this process effectively was of utmost importance.

The process of serving food begins from preparing and loading it into the carts (at caterer’s end), placing carts inside the aircraft as per the flight’s schedule, checking the inventory (done by cabin crew before the flight takes off), serving the passengers, reconciling the inventory and receipts (also included checking what’s left in the cart). Finally, the cart is sent back to the caterer (which could sometimes also include some food items not purchased by passengers).

“This is a very complicated process involving many stakeholders-- the caterer, logistics, on-ground team, cabin crew and the finance team too”, he added.
23/03/20 Bhragu Haritas/ET CIO.com

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Hyderabad Indigo airlines staffer dies at Delhi airport

Indigo airline staffer in Hyderabad died of a heart attack at Delhi airport on Saturday. Muralidhar
Reddy (44), a native of Hyderabad arrived at Delhi airport aer travelling to Jakarta and Indonesia.
While Reddy was waiting for the coronavirus screening centre and immigration clearance,
Muralidhar Reddy collapsed on the floor. The medical officials at the airport rushed for assistance
and declared him dead. His body was handed over to his family aer a post-mortem.
The staffer was declared dead due to pulmonary cardiac arrest.
22/03/20 Roja Maybrahma/Hans India

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GoAir, Indigo and Vistara airlines to limit Domestic Operations on March 22

New Delhi:  GoAir, IndiGo and Vistara airlines have limited their domestic operations on March 22, the day of ‘Janata Curfew’

IndiGo has said that it will operate 60 per cent of its domestic flights on Sunday. GoAir will be suspending its domestic operations for that day.

Spicejet has cancelled all four flights namely two Kolkata-Dibrugarh-Guwahati flights and two Guwahati-Dibrugarh-Kolkata flights from March 24- March 30.

Meanwhile, Government of India has informed that no scheduled international commercial passenger aircraft shall be allowed to land in India from March 22, 2020 for one week.

In wake of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has also affected India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the people of the country to opt for a ‘Janata Curfew’ on Sunday from 7 am to 9 pm.

In a special live address to the nation, Modi said: “Today I am requesting the people of the country for a Janata Curfew, on March 22, this Sunday, from between 7 am to 9 pm… This is public curfew. ‘Janata Curfew’ means for the public, curfew imposed on public by themselves.”
21/03/20 Sentinel

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IndiGo, GoAir to cancel close to 1,000 flights on Sunday

Mumbai: Low fare carriers IndiGo and GoAir will together cancel close to 1,000 domestic flights during the Janta Curfew Sunday, both said without giving any assurance of a refund to affected passengers.
GoAir said it will cancel all its domestic operations, usually constituting 330 flights, on Sunday. The country's biggest carrier IndiGo separately said it will operate only 60% of its domestic schedule of about 1,400 local flights on Sunday and going forward trim it by 25%. To be sure, both have already clubbed and cancelled some domestic flights in the last few weeks.
GoAir said it was "responding to the clarion call" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who on Thursday urged citizens to adhere to a self-imposed curfew on Sunday, restricting movements and gatherings to a bare minimum to fight the spread of the Coronavirus.
Officials at the ministry of civil aviation had however said domestic flights would continue.
GoAir said passengers' PNRs will be protected and can be redeemed any time of the year free of extra charges. Neither GoAir nor IndiGo said that affected passengers would be refunded.
In its statement, IndiGo, which flies almost half of India's local fliers, said it would trim 40% of its domestic schedule on Sunday "in order to accommodate those with urgent travel requirements on that day".
21/03/20 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

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Indigo airlines announces schedule reductions amid coronavirus outbreak

New Delhi: Amid growing concern over coronavirus outbreak in the country, Indigo on Friday (March 20, 2020) announced that it has reduced its domestic schedule for next few weeks.

Issuing a statement Indigo said, ''IndiGo, India’s largest airline, has reduced its domestic schedule to match market demand over the next few weeks.''

Meanwhile the airline company also informed that on Sunday that is the day to observe Janata Curfew in India as announced by PM Narendra Modi, Indigo will be operating 60% of its domestic schedule to meet urgent requirement of people.

''On Sunday 22nd March, in line with the Janata Curfew announced by the Prime Minister on 19th March,  the airline will be operating approximately 60% of its normal domestic schedule, in order to accommodate those with urgent travel requirements on that day,'' read the statement.

Indigo has also given option to its passenger to make changes in their travel plans on the day on Janata curfew by creating a Plan B platform in their website.
21/03/20 Sameer Dixit/ZeeNews

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Air India Express, IndiGo flights cancelled from Mangaluru airport

Mangaluru: Air India Express and IndiGo flights from Mangaluru International Airport have been cancelled according to a press release from the airport.
All Air India Express flights from Mangaluru to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Muscat, Bahrain and Dammam have been cancelled from March 22 March to 29.
IndiGo flights from Mangaluru to Dubai via Bengaluru have been cancelled from March 22 to 28.
Indigo flights from Mangaluru to Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai have been cancelled for March 22.
21/03/20 daijiworld

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IndiGo to cut domestic capacity by 25%

New Delhi: The demand for air travel has crashed following the coronavirus outbreak, While international flights face restrictions across countries and have been restricted in India for a week starting Sunday, demand for domestic air travel is also badly hit. IndiGo, which has almost 50% domestic market share, will reduce its domestic capacity by 25% till things improve.

All airlines will now increasingly ground their planes. Airlines have in fact sought lower parking charges for this very reason till September-October. A big airline, not IndiGo, was operating only 10 aircraft on Friday.

“IndiGo, India’s largest airline, has reduced its domestic schedule to match market demand over the next few weeks… responding to the various travel restrictions imposed worldwide, most of our international flights are suspended and additionally, given the reduction in domestic demand, we are trimming our domestic India operations by approximately 25% for now. In this fluid situation, IndiGo will continually review operations to match capacity to demand,” IndiGo said in a statement.
20/03/20 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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IndiGo grounds 16 planes; staff to take 10-20% salary cuts

India's largest carrier IndiGo has grounded about 16 planes out of its total fleet of 260 aircraft, says an IndiGo source. The airline is also planning to ask its employees to take 10-20 per cent salary cuts as it grapples with the impact of coronavirus on domestic and international flights.

"The load factors have gone down substantially on the domestic flights. The domestic flights are flying almost half empty, and the passengers on international flights are even lower," says an IndiGo official on condition of anonymity.

Early this week, IndiGo cancelled its Delhi-Istanbul and Chennai-Kuala Lumpur from March 18, 2020 until March 31, 2020. The airline has already cancelled flights between Bangalore-Kuala Lumpur until March 31, 2020 and Delhi-Kuala Lumpur until April 30, 2020. Till March 6, IndiGo had cancelled 42 weekly flights to destinations such as Singapore, Bangkok, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Hong Kong owing to coronavirus and travel restrictions. Additionally, the LCC (low-cost carrier) has announced cancellation of flights between Mumbai-Jeddah and Bangalore-Jeddah from March 29, 2020 until April 14, 2020, and Chennai-Calicut and Calicut-Jeddah flights from March 29, 2020 until April 24, 2020.

On March 11, IndiGo informed stock exchanges that it has been impacted by coronavirus. "In January and February 2020, IndiGo experienced modest impact from the coronavirus. We cancelled our flights to China and Hong Kong and reduced frequency to certain other South-east Asia markets...over the past few days however, week-on-week, we have seen a 15-20 per cent decline in our daily bookings. Please note that the numbers could change from here based on how the situation evolves."
19/03/20  Manu Kaushik/Business Today

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Last batch of Indian Umrah pilgrims flown back from Saudi

Jeddah: The last batch of Indian Umrah pilgrims were flown back to India on Wednesday, completing the total evacuation of over 3,000 pilgrims stranded in Saudi Arabia following the suspension of all flights due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the Indian Consulate General here said.

"With departure of 185 Indian Umrah pilgrims from Jeddah to Mumbai through a special Indigo aircraft at 1435 hrs today, the final phase of evacuation of 3,035 Indian Umrah pilgrims culminated today," the Indian Consulate General said in a post on its Facebook page.

It said while arrival of all Umrah pilgrims to Saudi Arabia has been suspended from February 27, all international flights to the country were suspended from March 15, and hence special flights had to be arranged for taking back the Indian pilgrims.
19/03/20 IANS/Outlook

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After GoAir fires expat pilots, IndiGo warns of tough decisions

The economic environment in the aviation sector has deteriorated significantly and it has become necessary to initiate some tough decisions over the next few days and weeks, IndiGo's flight operations chief Ashim Mitra told pilots in an email on Thursday morning.

With countries sealing their borders partially or fully across the world due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the aviation sector has been hit extremely hard as most airlines globally have drastically curtailed their flight operations.

Mitra stated in his email, "Economic environment has deteriorated significantly and no airline is insulated from this severe downturn."


"It has become a necessity to initiate some tough calls and we are working on a string of measures that will be shared and implemented over the next few days and weeks," Mitra said.

Asking the pilots to not believe any hearsay, Mitra added that the airline will keep them updated.

"Please keep taking all the precautions against COVID-19 and we shall overcome any challenge...," he said.
19/03/20 PTI/The Week

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Coronavirus impact: IndiGo grounds 16 planes; staff to take 10-20% salary cuts

India's largest carrier IndiGo has grounded about 16 planes out of its total fleet of 260 aircraft, says an IndiGo source. The airline is also planning to ask its employees to take 10-20 per cent salary cuts as it grapples with the impact of coronavirus on domestic and international flights.

"The load factors have gone down substantially on the domestic flights. The domestic flights are flying almost half empty, and the passengers on international flights are even lower," says an IndiGo official on condition of anonymity.

Early this week, IndiGo cancelled its Delhi-Istanbul and Chennai-Kuala Lumpur from March 18, 2020 until March 31, 2020. The airline has already cancelled flights between Bangalore-Kuala Lumpur until March 31, 2020 and Delhi-Kuala Lumpur until April 30, 2020. Till March 6, IndiGo had cancelled 42 weekly flights to destinations such as Singapore, Bangkok, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Hong Kong owing to coronavirus and travel restrictions. Additionally, the LCC (low-cost carrier) has announced cancellation of flights between Mumbai-Jeddah and Bangalore-Jeddah from March 29, 2020 until April 14, 2020, and Chennai-Calicut and Calicut-Jeddah flights from March 29, 2020 until April 24, 2020.
On March 11, IndiGo informed stock exchanges that it has been impacted by coronavirus. "In January and February 2020, IndiGo experienced modest impact from the coronavirus. We cancelled our flights to China and Hong Kong and reduced frequency to certain other South-east Asia markets...over the past few days however, week-on-week, we have seen a 15-20 per cent decline in our daily bookings. Please note that the numbers could change from here based on how the situation evolves."
19/03/20 Manu Kaushik/Business Today

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Coronavirus fallout: IndiGo senior official says drastic decisions likely over the next week

Economic environment in aviation sector has deteriorated significantly and it has become necessary to initiate some tough decisions over the next few days and weeks, said IndiGo's flight operations chief Ashim Mitra to pilots in an email on Thursday morning.

With countries sealing their borders partially or fully across the world due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, aviation sector has been hit extremely hard as most airlines globally have drastically curtailed their flight operations. Mitra stated in his email: "Economic environment has deteriorated significantly and no airline is insulated from this severe downturn."

"It has become a necessity to initiate some tough calls and we are working on a string of measures that will be shared and implemented over the next few days and weeks," Mitra said.

Asking the pilots to not believe any hearsay, Mitra added that the airline will keep them updated. "Please keep taking all the precautions against COVID-19 and we shall overcome any challenge as long as stand strong and tall against these headwinds," he said.
19/03/20 PTI/Business Today

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From today, IndiGo will cancel flights on these routes

From today, on orders from aviation regulator DGCA, airline IndiGo will cancel its flights on the Delhi-Istanbul and Chennai-Kuala Lumpur.

"These are purely temporary and precautionary measures. We understand that these measures will cause inconvenience to our customers and we will be refunding the full amount to the impacted passengers," the airline stated in a press release.

The airline has already cancelled flights between Bangalore-Kuala Lumpur until March 31, 2020 and Delhi-Kuala Lumpur until April 30, 2020.

The DGCA had instructed airlines not to allow passengers to board from coronavirus-affected countries.
“Travel of passengers from member countries of the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, Turkey and the United Kingdom to India is prohibited with effect from 18th March 2020. No airline shall board a passenger from these nations to India with effect from 1200 GMT on 18th March 2020. The airline shall enforce this at the port of initial departure,” the advisory read.

Earlier, all existing visas to India were suspended with effect from March 13.
18/03/20 The Week

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IndiGo to cancel flights to Turkey, Malaysia amid COVID-19 pandemic

In response to the Centre's advisory to restrict international traffic from Turkey and Malaysia in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, airline major IndiGo will cancel its flight operations to these countries.

Accordingly, the airline will cancel its services between Delhi-Istanbul and Chennai-Kuala Lumpur from March 18, 2020 until March 31, 2020.

"The airline has already cancelled flights between Bangalore-Kuala Lumpur until March 31, 2020 and Delhi-Kuala Lumpur until April 30, 2020," the airline said in a statement.


"These are purely temporary and precautionary measures. We understand that these measures will cause inconvenience to our customers and we will be refunding the full amount to the impacted passengers," it said.

Earlier in the day, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a circular: "Travel of passengers from Afghanistan, Philippines, Malaysia to India is prohibited with immediate effect."

"No flight shall take off from these countries to India after 15:00 hours Indian Standard Time (IST). The airline shall enforce this at the port of initial departure," the DGCA said.

"This instruction is a temporary measure and shall be in force till March 31, 2020 and will be reviewed subsequently," it added.

Earlier, GoAir had announced that it is temporarily suspending all international operations, starting March 17, 2020 until April 15, 2020.

The airline has also initiated a temporary rotational leave without pay policy. The company claims this will not only help it counter the short-term reduction in capacity but will also ensure that a cross section of its employees stay away from the workplace to ensure business continuity.

“Despite going over and above to implement these safeguards, the sharp decline in air travel that we are currently experiencing is unprecedented,” GoAir said in a statement.

In light of the changes being made to travel plans on account of COVID-19, GoAir is also offering customers a waiver on change fees.
18/03/20 News Minute

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IndiGo waives extra hours benefits to pilots, GoAir asks staff to go on unpaid leave

Faced with a dramatic slump in demand, domestic airlines IndiGo and GoAir have taken steps to cut down manpower costs.

IndiGo has told pilots that they may no longer be required to do extra hours, and the airline is withdrawing the incentive of giving compensation in lieu of leave.
"Buying of leaves has stopped. This was earlier done to incentivise pilots to fly more to cover for rapid expansion," a source told Moneycontrol.

IndiGo had recently communicated the same to its Indian and the expat pilots on the A320 fleet.

"Due to the ongoing threat of COVID 19 and various visa restrictions being placed, there is a likelihood of curtailment of our schedule. As a consequence, we will no longer be in need of extra availability in the coming months. Therefore, Admin Notice 36 E (Compensation in lieu of leave) is being withdrawn with immediate effect," the airline told its pilots.

Moneycontrol has sought a response from the airline and will update the story as soon as it gets one.

IndiGo's peer GoAir has asked some of its employees to go on unpaid leave, to save on costs.  "GoAir has also initiated a short term and temporary rotational leave without pay program," the airline said.

"That will not only help the company counter the short term reduction in capacity, but will also ensure that a cross-section of our employees stays away from the workplace to ensure business continuity," said the company.
The spread of coronavirus has raised a serious question on the sustainability of aviation business. While over 6,000 people have died, more than 180,000 have been infected globally. In India, the numbers are three and 126, respectively.
18/03/20 Prince Mathews Thomas/Moneycontrol.com

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Last batch of 185 Indian pilgrims in Jeddah leave for Mumbai

The last batch of 185 Indian pilgrims in Jeddah left for Mumbai today by a special Indigo aircraft. Consulate General of India, CGI Jeddah said that with the departure of these pilgrims from Jeddah, the final phase of evacuation of 3035 Indian Umrah pilgrims culminated today.

Speaking exclusively to AIR News, Consul General in Jeddah Noor Rehman Sheikh said, the Consulate officials worked closely with Saudi authorities to get the requisite approvals for the special flights. It has been a great experience to arrange the movement of all these 3035 Indian Umrah pilgrims back to India.

A day earlier 222 and 189 Indian pilgrims departed by Indigo and Spicejet special flights, following suspension of international flights by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the wake of the spread of COVID-19.
18/03/20 All India Radio

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IndiGo, Vistara May Ground Jets as Virus Cases Jump in India

Two of India’s most high-profile airlines are considering grounding planes as the coronavirus ravages travel demand, people familiar with the matter said. IndiGo, Asia’s biggest budget airline by market value, has seen traffic slump as much as 30% in India, while its international flights have dried up following government restrictions on travel, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations aren’t public. In addition to potential groundings, Vistara, the Indian venture of Singapore Airlines Ltd., is considering delaying delivery of some of the first batch of Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliners it has on order, another person said.
Should the pair go ahead with the flight cancellations, they’d join the growing number of airlines around the world doing so — United Airlines Holdings Inc. and British Airways’s parent recently announced capacity cuts — as the pandemic keeps people from flying. Indian carriers have avoided major reductions in flights so far but pressure is mounting as the number of confirmed cases climbs in the world’s second-most populous country. Industry groups and analysts have issued dire warnings about the virus, with Sydney-based CAPA Centre for Aviation saying that most of the world’s airlines could go bankrupt by the end of May unless authorities step in. The International Air Transport Association said Tuesday that the global airline industry needs as much as $200 billion in government aid and bailout measures to survive the crisis.
With demand expected to fall at least 40-50% in the near term, India’s airlines may initially ground 150 aircraft, the local unit of CAPA said Wednesday. Even after a slump oil prices, the country’s airlines will lose $500-$600 million this quarter, excluding loss-making national carrier Air India Ltd., and that estimate may be revised downward.
18/03/20 Anurag Kotoky/Bloomberg|Quint

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Emptying skies: GoAir, IndiGo & Air India cancel or curtail flights

Mumbai: Low-cost carrier GoAir on Tuesday suspended its international operations till April 15, even as major carriers like Air India rolled out a curtailed flight schedule for its short and medium haul flights which will last up to April end, while its flights to London, Vienna, Frankfurt, Birmingham stand cancelled from Wednesday till this month end.

IndiGo too will be cancelling its flights between Delhi-Istanbul and Chennai-Kuala Lumpur from Wednesday till March 31. “The airline has already cancelled flights between Bengaluru-Kuala Lumpur until March end and Delhi-Kuala Lumpur until April 30,” it said.
The impact of Covid-19 on air travel in India will be most visible in Delhi and Mumbai airports as air traffic and passenger traffic are expected to dip to unprecedented lows in March and April. While Mumbai airport handled 840 flight movements in 24 hours on Monday—down from the average of 950 movements/day—it is expected to slide down further as the two new travel advisories issued this week by the Indian government come into effect. In the 24 hours leading up to Tuesday morning, India had announced the ban of entry of passengers from countries in the EU, the UK, Turkey, Malaysia and then those on low-demand routes like Afghanistan and Philippines till March 31.

In keeping with the latest travel restrictions, Air India has cancelled all Europe-bound flights from Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad effective Wednesday till March 31. Among the reduced AI frequencies are flights from Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai to Colombo, scheduled from March 24 to April 30; AI flights operating to/from Muscat from stations like Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad will be severely curtailed from March 17 to April 30; Delhi and Kochi to Dubai flights to be brought down to thrice a week from daily between March 21 and April 30; and Chennai-Dubai will operate four days a week instead of daily. Among the other curtailments are to routes like Bengaluru/Goa-Dubai, Mumbai-Abu Dhabi, Calicut-Sharjah, Chennai/Trivandrum-Sharjah, and Mumbai-Nairobi. AI flights to Dhaka have been largely curtailed from March 22 to June 30.
18/03/20 Times of India

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‘Can’t exploit hapless consumers’: IndiGo told to refund excess amount charged

In a rare order passed by the District Consumer Forum of Panchkula, it has asked Indigo Airlines to refund 53 per cent of the total fare, amounting to almost Rs 40,000 by ruling that airlines cannot exploit hapless consumers stuck in desperate situations.

According to the complaint filed by P R Singhania, he along with four others of his family had to go to Patna to attend a function and had reserved their tickets in Rajdhani Express almost three months prior for the same. But due to dense fog at that time in northern India, all trains including his were running extremely late. The complainant, after his train was delayed by 24 hours, was forced to cancel the said rail tickets and travel by air instead of train. He thus booked five air tickets via Indigo Airlines from Patna to New Delhi.

During the hearing of the case, it was argued that due to the compelling situation, the complainant was “forced” to pay Rs 74,500 for five tickets at Rs 14,900 per person, instead of the maximum usual tarrif Rs 3,000 to 3,500 per ticket.
The complainant claimed that an arbitrarily exorbitant air fare excess by Rs 11,400 per ticket from the complainant, aggregating to Rs 57,000 for all ive air tickets was charged.
The forum, noting that though several factors come into play while fixing the air fare, but replying upon the air fare charged by Air India, citing it is a public sector undertaking of Government of India, observed, that though “it is a matter of common knowledge that airlines charge higher rates in peak seasons as compared to lean seasons…it needs little emphasis to say that the airlines may increase or decrease its air fare…in a particular season or occasion keeping in view the feasibility and financial viability of its air flight… (but) the airlines are expected to follow and adhere to the principles of reasonableness and fairness while fixing the air fare on any particular route.”
14/03/20 Indian Express

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IndiGo, Spicejet tank up to 19% on travel curbs

Shares of aviation majors including InterGlobe Aviation and Spicejet tanked up to 19 per cent after the government on Wednesday imposed stringent travel curbs to the country as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic.
The government late on Wednesday suspended “all existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN/international organisations, employment, project visas” until April 15.
There are more than 1,18,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 4,291 deaths in 114 countries. India’s count of infected people is 62 with no confirmed deaths so far from the disease.
The visa-free travel facility for Overseas Indian Card (OIC) holders has been suspended until the same date. The curbs go into effect at 1200 GMT on March 13 at the port of departure.
12/03/20 EconomicMarkets.com/Economic Times

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COVID-19 cloud: IndiGo says earnings to be ‘materially impacted’, others cancel flights

During a period that is usually deemed to be the leanest in a year for Indian airlines, the added impact of the COVID-19 outbreak has carriers bracing for impact from plummeting demand, mounting flight cancellations and a consequential grounding of a part of their fleets. IndiGo, India’s largest airline which handles nearly half of the country’s domestic passengers, said on Wednesday it expects its quarterly earnings to be “materially impacted” because of the coronavirus outbreak.

“In January and February 2020, IndiGo experienced modest impact from the coronavirus. We cancelled our flights to China and Hong Kong and reduced frequency to certain other Southeast Asia markets. This capacity was redeployed in other markets without having a material impact on our revenues,” IndiGo said in a notice to the exchanges. “Over the past few days, however, week-on-week, we have seen a 15-20 per cent decline in our daily bookings. Please note that the numbers could change from here based on how the situation evolves,” it said.

The International Air Transport Association has estimated global revenue losses for airlines of up to a maximum $113 billion, excluding impact on cargo operations.
IndiGo, which ferried 6.79 crore passengers last year, said: “We expect our quarterly earnings to be materially impacted because of the above. In addition, the rupee has also depreciated sharply which will have an adverse impact on our dollar denominated liabilities primarily on account of capitalised operating leases”.
However, IndiGo is not the only airline to run into headwinds developing from the coronavirus outbreak. Almost all major Indian airlines including Air India, Air India Express, SpiceJet and Vistara have cancelled flights to several Southeast and West Asian destinations on account of weak demand. “Future passenger loads are expected to be down. Typically, between March 10 and April 15, worst loads of the year are witnessed because of exam period, which also curtails business travel. While it will be unfair to blame everything on coronavirus, some impact is being seen. People have not really started booking for summers,” said Ameya Joshi, a former aviation industry professional dealing with network planning and founder of NetworkThoughts.
Further, with cases in Europe rising daily, Air India — currently India’s only long-haul operator — could be faced with excessive capacity of wide-bodied aircraft. The national carrier, which operates Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and Boeing 777 aircraft for its medium- and long-haul international flights, has already curtailed its operations to Rome, Milan and Singapore, in addition to operating smaller aircraft to some destinations like Jeddah. “Due to the prevailing situation of coronavirus in different locations across the globe, there are many destinations, which are expected to face a drop in foreign tourist arrivals because of the advisories issued by various governments. Customers are wary of making fresh bookings to the affected locations and airfares to these destinations have dropped by over 40 per cent. We have received nearly 35 per cent cancellation queries from travellers planning their trips to foreign locations in holiday season,” said Sabina Chopra, co-founder of Yatra.com.
Vistara took delivery of its first Dreamliner aircraft earlier this month, and the airline’s officials said they were “perplexed” about deployment of the plane on one of its planned destinations — London, Paris, Moscow and Tokyo — given the current situation. To begin with, Vistara will operate the aircraft on domestic routes.
12/03/20 Pranav Mukul/Indian Express

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Kamra case: Puri says no communication by govt with airlines before they imposed restrictions

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry on Thursday said no communication was made with IndiGo and Air India before any restriction was imposed by them on stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra.
On January 28, Kamra was banned by IndiGo from flying with the airline for six months for allegedly heckling a private TV news anchor. The ban period was later reduced to three months,

"No communication was made by the government with the airlines before any restriction was imposed on the passenger referred to in the question," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

He was responding to a query by Trinamool Congress lawmaker Prasun Banerjee seeking details of communication the government had with IndiGo/ Air India before restrictions were imposed on a comedian recently. The member and the minister did not specifically mention the name of Kamra.

Soon after IndiGo announced travel curbs on Kamra, Puri had tweeted, "Offensive behaviour designed to provoke & create disturbance inside an aircraft is absolutely unacceptable & endangers safety of air travellers.

"We are left with no option but to advise other airlines to impose similar restrictions on the person concerned".
12/03/20 PTI/Outlook

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Dehradun-Kolkata direct flight service to start from March 29

Dehradun: The air connectivity between Dehradun and other parts of the country is going to get a major boost as airlines are going to start direct flight operations on new routes from Jolly Grant airport from March 29 onwards.

Indigo Airlines, which operates eight daily flights from Dehradun, is going to increase its daily flight frequency to 13, according to the new summer schedule released by airport officials on Wednesday.

Apart from the existing flights, Indigo is also going to start direct flights on Dehradun - Kolkata, Dehradun - Ahmedabad and Dehradun- Prayagraj routes. Besides, the airline is going to start additional flights on Dehradun - Mumbai and Dehradun - Lucknow routes.

Another airline, Vistara is also going to start its operations from Dehradun airport from March 29. The airline will run a daily flight on the Dehradun- Delhi sector.

Airport director DK Gautam told TOI, “The Dehradun airport is on an expansion mode and the number of flights is going to increase significantly from this month-end. On an average, the number of daily flights will rise from 22 to 28.”
12/03/20 Gaurav Talwar/Times of India

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IndiGo says January-March quarterly profit to be hit by coronavirus outbreak

Reeling under the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, the country's largest airline IndiGo on March 11 said its earnings are set to take a hit.

"We experienced modest impact from coronavirus in January and February. We cancelled flights to China, Hong Kong and reduced frequency to certain other South-East Asian markets. Capacity was redeployed in other markets without having a material impact on our revenues. We also witnessed a 15-20 percent decline in daily bookings in the past few days. We expect quarterly earnings to be materially impacted," the airline said.
The airline also said the fall in the rupee will also have an adverse impact on  numbers.

"The rupee has also depreciated sharply, which will have an adverse impact on our dollar denominated liabilities primarily on account of capitalised operating leases," it said.
11/03/20 Moneycontrol

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Air fares crash due to coronavirus; IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet, Vistara feel the pinch

Delhi to Mumbai flight for less than Rs 2,500! Bengaluru to Kolkata flights for just Rs 3,600! The novel coronavirus has stung the domestic aviation sector hard. Large-scale flight cancellations and poor demand are reflecting on the airfares of airlines across the board. So far, the domestic carriers have suspended flights on some international routes, domestic flight schedule still remains intact. But that's going to change if the demand stays lull for a longer period, and cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) increase in India.

"For the first three weeks of February, the domestic traffic growth was almost similar to January but the demand tanked by 2-4 per cent in the last week of February. March is expected to witness substantial drop in air travel demand with forward bookings (for flying schedules over the next two months) are down by about 20 per cent," says an aviation analyst. In January, the domestic air traffic growth stood at mere 2.2 per cent, and the demand in February and March is likely to show negative growth compared to last year.

In fact, the PLF (passenger load factors) or occupancy rates for all airlines except Vistara shrunk in January. The drop was more pronounced for carriers such as AirAsia India and IndiGo.

Analysts predict that airlines such as IndiGo, SpiceJet and Air India are closely monitoring the development on the coronavirus front, and will soon take a call on truncating their domestic flight schedule. "In metro routes like Delhi to Mumbai, IndiGo could curtail its frequency from about 16 now to 12-13 owing to weak demand. Though reducing frequencies in non-metro routes could create hassle for passengers," says the analyst. Let's understand with an example. Suppose if IndiGo is flying between Delhi and Mumbai in every 1.5 hours, it's easy for the airline to adjust passengers from one flight to the next flight. But that's not possible in, let's say, an Amritsar to Mumbai flight whose daily frequency is just three. "They cannot simply push a morning flight passenger to an afternoon flight. It could hurt the airline's perception and create dissatisfaction," says the analyst.
11/03/20 Manu Kaushik/Business Today

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Spice Jet follows Indigo and Air Asia, waives rescheduling charges amid coronavirus outbreak

SpiceJet became the third company in India to wave off rescheduling charges until March 31, amid the mounting fears of coronavirus. 
Travellers have restricted their holidays to a minimum after an advisory from health ministry. The airlines, in order to support the move and stay away from getting infected are now offering a free change of travel dates till March 31. 
“We’ve got you covered,” Spicejet said on its Twitter handle. The tweet further added that the people are having second thoughts before travelling in the view of the virus. As a result, the company will not be charging any change fees on existing or new bookings between March 12 to March 31.
 09/03/20 Navdeep Yadav/Business Insider

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IndiGo cancels all flights to Doha till March 17 amid coronavirus fears

New Delhi: Private airline IndiGo has canceled all flights to Doha till March 17 following travel ban imposed by Qatar on Indian nationals, amid coronavirus scare. Qatar today temporarily banned the entry of people coming from India and 13 other countries in the wake of coronavirus which has claimed over 3,000 lives across the globe so far.

In a statement, the airline said it would be cancelling flights to Doha till March 17.

"We will be monitoring the situation closely and will share further updates once the ban is lifted," it said.
Apart from India, the temporary ban by Qatar will also be applicable on people coming from Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand.
09/03/20 India TV

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‘I want action to be taken’ – Harbhajan Singh calls out IndiGo after bat goes missing from his kitbag

Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is one of the bowlers India has produced. The off-spinner, famously known as the ‘turbanator’ was the first Indian bowler to take a Test match hat-trick, which he claimed at the expense of the mighty Aussies during that unforgettable Test in Eden Gardens in 2001.

Harbhajan claimed more than 650 wickets during the course of his celebrated International career. The off-spinner, who last played for India back in 2016 is currently a part of the Indian Legends outfit-led by Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar in the Road Safety World series.
On Saturday, Harbhajan was travelling from Mumbai to Coimbatore in Indigo where he happened to lose his cricket bat. The off-spinner took to his Twitter account to post the complaint to the official handle of Indigo where he wrote: “Yesterday I Travelled from Mumbai to Coimbatore by @IndiGo6E flight number 6E 6313 indigo airlines and I find a bat is missing from my kit bag!! I want action to be taken to find who this culprit is..going into someone’s belongings and taking any item is THEFT.Plz help @CISFHQrs”
One of the customer care executives at Indigo immediately got in touch with the off-spinner and wrote: “Sorry to know about this, Mr. Singh. Let us get this checked immediately and connect with you. ~Snigdha”
08/03/20 Yash/CricTracker

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IndiGo waives rescheduling charges on bookings till March 31

Mumbai: Budget carrier IndiGo on Saturday announced waiving of rescheduling charges on flight bookings till March 31 due to the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak on existing and new domestic and international bookings made between March 12 and March 31, IndiGo said in a statement. The cancellation fee, however, remains.
"We understand that some passengers are concerned about committing to travel, given the current coronavirus issue. To take this anxiety away and make their travel hassel-free, we are waiving our normal change fee on all travel during the next two weeks and for all new bookings made in that period," IndiGo Chief Commercial Officer William Boulter said in the statement.
This will enable IndiGo fliers to book their flights at "affordable" fares with flexibility of rescheduling without change fee, if needed, he said.
07/03/20 PTI/Economic Times

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IndiGo will start 15 new domestic flights

IndiGo has announced 15 new flights between the metros. With this, the airline said that the operations of the new flights will start from March 29. The airline said that from 29 March, IndiGo will operate new flights between Bangalore-Indore, Mumbai-Chennai, Delhi-Indore, Chennai-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Guwahati, Kolkata-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Chennai, Delhi-Hyderabad and Hyderabad-Chennai. Along with this, it said that the flight between Patna and Mumbai can start from May 15 and the flight between Bengaluru and Jaipur can start from July 1.
Indigo's Chief Commercial Officer William Boulter said, "We are pleased to announce that we have increased connections to five metro cities, with Partner announcing 15 new flights to strengthen its domestic network." He said, 'These flights will meet the increasing demand for travel from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.' On the other hand, GoAir is offering cheap tickets for the three-day summer sale offer. GoAir is offering domestic options for Rs 955 and international travel for Rs 5,799.
05/03/20 Shivani Gite/News Track Live

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Now, direct flights to Chandigarh and Bagdogra from Patna

Patna: Budget carrier IndiGo launched direct flights to Chandigarh and Bagdogra from Patna on Thursday. They were given a ceremonial water-cannon salute as they touched down at the Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport.
While the Chandigarh-Patna-Bagdogra flight (6E-6148) reached the city airport at 7.27am and departed for Bagdogra at 8.30am, the Bagdogra-Patna-Chandigarh flight (6E-6149) arrived here at 11.35am and left for Chandigarh at 12.05pm.

IndiGo executives claimed that both the flights were almost full during arrival and departure.

Airport director Bhupesh C H Negi told this newspaper, “Now, the average number of daily flights at the city airport, which are part of the winter schedule, has reached 54 (IndiGo: 24, GoAir: 12, SpiceJet: 11, Air India: 6 and Vistara: 1).”


He added, “Pilgrims from Chandigarh, Punjab and neighbouring areas, who are willing to visit Patna Sahib, can come here easily now. Direct connectivity to Bagdogra will also make it easy for tourists to visit Sikkim. In fact, Patnaites can now travel directly to Hyderabad, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Ranchi, Lucknow, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai.”
06/03/20 Faryal Rumi/Times of India

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IndiGo, SpiceJet Face Turbulence As Coronavirus Hits Foreign Travel

Occupancy is expected to fall for domestic airlines as Indians cut back international travel amid the new coronavirus outbreak. Passenger load factor, or the percentage of seats filled, is likely to fall for most international flights for InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., the operator of India’s largest carrier IndiGo, and SpiceJet Ltd. as virus cases rose across the globe, including in India. Shares of the two airlines have tumbled 16-25 percent in the last one month because of a dip in flight ticket bookings, especially to Southeast Asia. International operations of the two carriers are expected to contribute nearly a fourth to their overall capacity in March, according to data compiled from RDC Aviation, a U.K.-based aviation analysis company.
While IndiGo has deployed 24.1 percent of its total capacity on international routes, it intends to increase this to 28 percent for its April-September 2020 summer schedule. Most of this will be deployed to the Middle East—the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Around 25.3 percent of Spicejet’s fleet caters to international routes and this is expected to remain stable during the summer. The budget carrier has deployed most of its international capacity to Saudi Arabia, Thailand and the U.A.E.
Both the airlines have been placing higher share of incremental capacity on international routes due to the slowdown in the domestic market. The expected dip in capacity utilisation on overseas routes is likely to weigh on ticket prices, which are already reeling under pressure due to cheaper fares in the domestic market.
Tourists are wary of making fresh bookings to the virus-affected locations and airfares to these destinations have dropped 20-30 percent, said Sabina Chopra, co-founder and chief operating officer, corporate travel at Yatra.com.
05/03/20 Soumeet Sarkar/Bloomberg|Quint

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IndiGo puts 4 crew members under home isolation

New Delhi: IndiGo Airlines has quarantined its crew who ferried a passenger who flew from Dubai to India and later tested positive for the coronavirus. Air India, which did the same with the crew of a Vienna-Delhi flight, has now reached out to other passengers on that flight to take necessary precautions.
A spokesperson for IndiGo said: “The affected passenger in Hyderabad travelled on IndiGo flight 6E 96 (Dubai-Bengaluru) on February 20, 2020. Under the guidance of APHO Bangalore all 4 cabin crew who operated this flight have been placed on home observation immediately, from March 2, 2020.
04/03/20 Times of India

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HC seeks response of Centre, DGCA, IndiGo, GoAir on PIL seeking grounding of A320neo aircraft

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought responses of the Centre, aviation regulator DGCA, Indigo and GoAir on a plea seeking grounding of A320neo aircraft with faulty engines.
 A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar issued notice to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MCA), Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Indigo and GoAir on a petition that contended the entire fleet of A320neo aircraft should be grounded "in larger interest of public safety". The plea, filed by a Chennai-based association of passengers, has alleged that despite being aware of "significant technical issues with Airbus A320 Neo", neither the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MCA) nor the DGCA have taken any concrete steps to ground these aircraft. Instead, the MCA and the DGCA have only issued notices extending the timelines for carrying out the repairs or engine modifications by the airlines concerned, it has said.
 "It is submitted that respondent 1 (MCA) and 2 (DGCA) have repeatedly extended the timelines for modified versions of the Pratt and Whitney engines to be installed, instead of grounding the entire fleet of A320 Neo aircraft," the petition has said.
04/03/20 PTI/Economic Times

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Coronavirus: After Air India, IndiGo quarantines crew of flight that carried infected flier

IndiGo, India's largest airline, quarantined its crew members who were on the flight that had a Hyderabad-based passenger carrying the deadly coronavirus.

"The affected passenger in Hyderabad travelled on IndiGo flight 6E 96 (Dubai-Bangalore) on February 20, 2020," the airline said on March 3.

All four cabin crew who operated this flight have been placed on home observation immediately, w.e.f. Mar 02, 2020, added the airline.

"We are following all the prescribed Airport Health Organization (APHO) guidelines and are taking preventive measures for our crew operating flights to regions affected by coronavirus," it said.

The Hyderabad passenger was among the three fresh cases of coronavirus that were confirmed on March 2, in India.

Earlier, an Italian tourist tested positive for coronavirus, taking the number of confirmed cases in India to six.
03/03/20 moneycontrol

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IndiGo, GoAir to replace 180 PW engines by May-end: DGCA

New Delhi: Aviation regulator DGCA on Tuesday stated that IndiGo and GoAir will be replacing a total of 180 unmodified Pratt and Whitney (PW) engines on their A320neo planes with modified ones by the end of May this year.
IndiGo and GoAir have 106 and 43 such A320neo aircraft - fitted with PW engines - in their fleet, respectively. Post the induction of the aircraft into service, there have been a number of incidents of snag in their PW engines.
As there were more LPT (low pressure turbine) failure incidents in the aircraft in IndiGo's fleet, the airline was directed by the DGCA on November 1 last year to replace all unmodified engines in its fleet with modified ones by January 31.
Later, the regulator extended the deadline to May 30. GoAir was also told by the regulator to replace all unmodified engines by May 30.
03/03/20 PTI/Economic Times

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New Inter-State flight services from Vizag, Vijayawada, Kadapa

Improving air connectivity from Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Kadapa, private airline operators have announced new flights to Bengaluru, Chennai and Belagavi.

Visakhapatnam will get at least two more daily flights to Bengaluru and Chennai from March 29.
Air Asia India, which already has two daily flights from Vizag to Bengaluru (leaving at 11.05 pm and 8.55 pm), is set to operate a third one between the two cities. It will leave Bengaluru at 4.35 am and reach Visakhapatnam at 6.10 am. On its return, it will leave Visakhapatnam at 6.40 am and reach Bengaluru at 8.05 am. This flight is aimed at catering to techies, who have been demanding such a service that lets them reach their offices in time for work in the morning.

Meanwhile, IndiGo has proposed to launch a night flight from Visakhapatnam to Chennai from March 29. It will leave Chennai at 9.25 pm and reach Vizag at 10.45 pm. On its return, it will leave at 11.15 pm and reach Chennai at 12.40 am. This service is expected to provide connectivity for late-night international flights from Chennai. SpiceJet announced its fight schedule between Bengaluru and Vijayawada, with SG 3741 leaving Bengaluru at 4.45 pm and reaching Vijayawada at 6.05 pm. SG 3742 will leave Vijayawada at 6.25 pm and reach Bengaluru at 7.45 pm. It will be operated from March 29 on six days a week barring Wednesdays.
TruJet Airways launched its flight service to Belgaum (Belagavi) in Karnataka from Kadapa on Sunday. Airport director P Shiva Prasad welcomed the 49 passengers who arrived in Kadapa on the flight from Belgaum around 11 am. The service is aimed at those who intend to visit Goa, he said. TruJet Airways is also awaiting permission to operate a flight to Bengaluru. Prasad added that with the new service to Belgaum, four flight services have been made available from Kadapa.
02/03/20 New Indian Express

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IndiGo launches daily direct flights to connect Northeastern states under UDAN

Under the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme, other passenger air carriers Air India, Air Asia, SpiceJet and GoAir are operating flights connecting the northeastern states and other major cities in India. To cover more of the North East, budget airline IndiGo launches direct flights on the Agartala-Aizawl-Guwahati route under the UDAN scheme with fares beginning at Rs 1,620.

Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga flagged-off the 78-seater Agartala bound IndiGo flight at Aizawl. According to airline sources, Indigo will introduce airbus-320 on the Aizawl-Delhi route in the near future. As of now, Air India and Go Air are operating their flights from Aizawl's Lengpui airport connecting Kolkata and Guwahati.
Currently, IndiGo operates flights to and from five Northeastern states namely Assam (Guwahati), Nagaland (Dimapur), Manipur (Imphal), Tripura (Agartala), and Meghalaya (Shillong). The new routes will be serviced by ATR aircraft, IndiGo said earlier.

Tripura Transport and Tourism Minister Pranajit Singh Roy in presence of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) Regional Executive Director (NER) and other dignitaries flagged off the IndiGo flight in Agartala.
On the occasion, Pranajit Singh Roy said that now onwards daily 19 flights of various airliners including Air India would be operated from the Agartala's Maharaja Bir Bikram airport connecting Kolkata, Delhi, Guwahati, Aizawl and other cities in India.
02/03/20 Savita V Jayaram/IBTimes

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IndiGo, GoAir to get 180 modified Pratt engines for Neos by May-end, says DGCA

New Delhi: IndiGo and GoAir currently have just over 90 unmodified Pratt & Whitney (PW) engines on their Airbus A320 Neos that need to be replaced with modified ones by May 31, 2020, to keep flying after that. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday said it has received a firm schedule that IndiGo’s remaining 60 unmodified PW engines will be replaced in that deadline and the schedule for replacing GoAir’s remaining 32 unmodified PW engines is still awaited.

In all, IndiGo and GoAir will get 180 modified engines both as replacement on planes already in their fleet and on new A320/321 Neos delivered to them by May-end. While 90 of the modified engines were to come as new deliveries and replacement by February-end, the remaining half is expected by May 31. IndiGo at present has 106 Neos and GoAir has 43 Neos. Together the two Indian carriers have about 25% of the 585 A320 Neo family of aircraft with PW 1100 series engines, the official added.

“A total number of 56 (PW unmodified engine) failures (on A320 Neos) have been reported globally, out of which 26 failures — 22 by IndiGo and four by GoAir — have been reported by Indian carriers, amounting to about 46%,” said a senior DGCA official.
02/02/20 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Calcutta-Hong Kong flight of Dragonair suspended

Calcutta: Dragonair, owned by Cathay Pacific, will suspend its Calcutta-Hong Kong flight from March 9 to 28 because of “challenges and disruptions to travel” following the coronavirus outbreak in China, airline sources said on Tuesday.

The drop in passenger count because of the coronavirus scare has also prompted IndiGo to decide to withdraw one of its two daily flights between Calcutta and Bangkok, sources in the airline said.

“The flight is likely to be withdrawn in a couple of weeks,” a source at IndiGo said.

Cathay Pacific on Tuesday sent mails to tour operators informing them about the suspension of the Calcutta-Hong Kong Dragonair flight. The airline operates six flights in a week on the route.
“The last few weeks have seen many challenges and disruptions to travel in Hong Kong due to the coronavirus,” the letter written by Mark Sutch, regional general manager, South Asia, Middle East and Africa, Cathay Pacific, said.

“Globally, Cathay Pacific is reducing its overall capacity by 40 per cent in the coming months and this will include a temporary suspension of Kolkata from 9th of March until 28th of March. If there is further impact to flights operating out of India over the upcoming weeks and months, we will keep you updated.”

Many passengers from Calcutta fly Dragonair from Hong Kong to the US, Japan and Australia.

Several flights from Calcutta to southeast Asia have been withdrawn because of a decline in the number of passengers following the outbreak of the coronavirus.
26/02/20 Sanjay Mandal/Telegraph

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Coronavirus outbreak: Vistara to cancel 54 flights in March, Air India, IndiGo suffer too

Mumabi: The coronavirus outbreak is giving airlines a run for their money in India as national carrier Air India and private carrier IndiGo have already made several temporary shut-downs in various areas.

These cut-downs, which the airline terms as adjustments, are for Bangkok and Singapore sectors for the month of March.

After this adjustment, a total of 54 Vistara flights will be cancelled for the month of March. Twenty flights will be cancelled between Delhi and Bangkok, 26 flights will be cancelled between Mumbai and Singapore and eight flights will be cancelled between Delhi and Singapore.

Talking to India Today an airline representative said, "The airline clarifies that there was no advisory or caution from the Singapore or Bangkok authorities and that weak demand was the only reason why the management decided to take the call for certain adjustments."

"Passengers who have booked in advance can either get a full refund without any cancellation charges or book on a later date," an airline representative said.
26/02/20 India Today

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