Omicron effect: IndiGo to cancel around 20 pc flights, waives change fees

IndiGo said it will cancel around 20% of its flights because of the surge in Covid cases driven by the Omicron variant and waive change fees till March 31 in response to customer needs

IndiGo on Sunday said it will cancel around 20 per cent of its flights because of the surge in Covid cases driven by the Omicron variant and waive change fees till March 31 in response to customer needs.

Change fee is paid by a passenger to switch to a different flight date.

In a press release, the airline stated that owing to the increasing number of infections, a large number of IndiGo customers are changing their travel plans.

"In response to customer needs, IndiGo is waiving change fees and is offering free changes for all new and existing bookings made up to January 31, for flights up to March 31, 2022," it mentioned.

The budget carrier said with reduced demand it will also selectively withdraw some flights from service.

"We anticipate that around 20 per cent of our current scheduled operations will be withdrawn from service."

"Where possible, cancellation 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 (section) on our website," it noted.

The airline encouraged the customers to digital channels since the call centres have been handling a large volume of calls.