NEW DELHI: Uncertainty shrouds holiday plans of lakhs of domestic flyers this winter. India’s biggest airline, IndiGo, will cut anywhere between 200 and 400 flights daily for the foreseeable future.Which means, don’t be surprised if the flight you booked to Goa and back this Yuletide are cancelled. While you will get a refund and domestic airfares are capped, making a new booking won’t be easy as other airlines cannot fill in the void created by IndiGo cancellations at such a short notice. Which means, India is staring at a sharp demand-supply gap this winter.
“All our resources are fully deployed and we are operating at maximum capacity. Ever since IndiGo crisis happened, our aircraft occupancies have gone through the roof. Also for a short term no one can add capacity just like that. If govt says they are uncomfortable with a single airline having 60% plus domestic market share and are capping the same, we can increase capacity. Otherwise, who will add capacity and be faced with a growing giant,” said a top executive of another Indian carrier. Govt may permit short term wet leases – something IndiGo has availed off – but finding aircraft at such short notice is not easy, said airline executives.The situation has left holidayers nervous. Multiple people said they have bookings on IndiGo this winter. “Aviation ministry is in full damage-control mode for themselves. But the uncertainty they have left us with is not funny. This was a completely preventable situation by allowing airlines’ schedules based on their actual ability to mount flights,” said Priya Singh, a Delhi-based writer.
