PremiumCancellations of scheduled flights climbed to 7.43% of total flights in May from 2.62% in the previous month, according to the latest available data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation
NEW DELHI : Aniruddha Malpani, the founder of angel investment firm Malpani Ventures, was disappointed to discover that his Mumbai to Srinagar flight slated for 10 May was cancelled at the last minute. The airline cited operational reasons.
The carrier instead offered Malpani a seat on a flight two days later. But, the Mumbai-based businessman renounced the offer and bought a ticket for a flight on the same route but on a different airline as he wanted to fly to Srinagar the same day.
“They cancelled the flight for 10 May, and instead of refunding the money in full, they ‘revised’ their flight... How can they decide which date I should fly," Malpani later tweeted.
Malpani is not alone in experiencing the fiasco as flight cancellations by Indian carriers have risen sharply these past few months.
Cancellations of scheduled flights climbed to 7.43% of total flights in May from 2.62% in the previous month, according to the latest available data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
National carrier Air India led the tally cancelling 16.34% of total flights in May, followed by Vistara at 9.29%. IndiGo (3.51%), FlyBig (3.57%), SpiceJet (1.81%), TruJet (1.64%), StarAir (0.90%), GoAir (0.16%) were the other airlines that cancelled flights. Air taxi operators, meanwhile, cancelled as many as 61% of their flights during May.
Airlines attributed commercial reasons to more than two-thirds of the flight cancellations. Other factors were weather (17%), operational (7.6%), miscellaneous (6.4%) and technical (1%).
In many situations, airlines inform about cancellations just days before the flight, leaving fliers scrambling to find last-minute alternatives. In addition, flight cancellations, especially close to the travel date, complicate the travel plans of passengers as air travel amid the pandemic requires passengers to do mandatory RT-PCR tests within 48 hours of a journey, depending on rules set by various states.
Flight cancellations also force passengers to undergo fresh RT-PCR tests within a very short time frame or risk not being allowed to board. Also, once cancelled, refunds may take some time to come by, especially if tickets are booked through third-party applications.
A spokesperson for Vistara said the airline made a few ad-hoc cancellations because of capacity reduction mandates from authorities, low demand, and changing government rules. “These are unprecedented circumstances; however, we are hopeful things will be better soon," the spokesperson said.
Spokespeople for IndiGo, Air India, GoAir and AirAsia India did not respond to queries. A SpiceJet spokesperson said it cancelled some flights due to operational reasons beyond the airline’s control.
Experts also attribute high cancellations to pandemic-induced low demand and capacity reduction by airlines to comply with government instructions.
“It makes no sense for airlines to fly empty during the pandemic when airlines have been making huge losses. This has contributed to cancellations going up. An informal code-share between airlines could partially address the issue," said Mark Martin, chief executive of aviation consultancy Martin LLC.
“The government should, however, come up with a policy to safeguard the interest of travellers," he added.
Air passenger traffic fell sharply between March and May due to the second wave of the pandemic. In recent weeks, however, air travel has started to rebound due to a sharp drop in fresh infection rates and the withdrawal of covid-induced lockdowns and other travel restrictions by states.
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