Airlines, travel portals waive flight change fees as Omicron surges across India

In a relief for domestic passengers who are having to abort travel plans due to the Omicron surge, domestic carriers including Indigo, Air India and Vistara have announced that they are waiving flight date change fees till March 31 this year.

 

On Sunday, India’s biggest airline – IndiGo – announced it is waiving change fees for rescheduling flights, besides scaling back capacity by 20 per cent. “Owing to the increasing number of Omicron infections, a large number of passengers are changing their travel plans. In response to consumer needs, IndiGo is waiving change fees and is offering free changes for all new and existing bookings made up to January 3, for flights up to March 31, 2022,” the airline said.

 

Air India too has offered 'one free change' of date or flight number or sector for all domestic tickets with confirmed travel till March 31 this year.

 

The Tata-Singapore Airlines-backed Vistara is also providing one complimentary ‘date change’ for all domestic flights. The complimentary date change is permitted on all domestic flight routings issued for travel up to March 31, 2022. 

 

"We are observing a decline in demand for air travel due to the sudden surge in Covid-19 cases and travel restrictions imposed by various states. At Vistara, we are monitoring the situation closely and adjusting capacity to demand. We are also trying to minimise the inconvenience to our customers by offering them various options such as rescheduling or refunds," Vistara said in a statement.

 

On its part, online travel bookings company EaseMyTrip said it is offering a full refund to customers (including money deducted by airlines), in case of medical emergencies.

 

SpiceJet is also discussing the issue internally and is likely to make an announcement soon.

 

The sudden surge of the Omicron variant and creeping restrictions on mobility come at a bad time for India’s aviation companies, who had only recently started to recover from the severe disruption and losses caused in 2020 and during the second surge of Covid-19 infections in 2021.

 

On January 8, 2022, domestic air passenger traffic stood at 2,41,252 across 2,366 flights. Last December, domestic air passenger traffic had touched nearly 400,000.

 

"The Ministry of Civil Aviation is in regular touch with the officials from the Health Ministry and will take appropriate decisions to ensure the safety of passengers in Indian skies,” said an official.

 

India witnessed a single-day rise of 1,79,723 coronavirus infections, according to data updated by the Union Health Ministry on Monday. The number of active cases has increased to 7,23,619, the highest in around 204 days, while the death toll has climbed to 4,83,936 with 146 fatalities, the data stated.

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