Bookings to Turkiye, Azerbaijan and China remain blocked: Ixigo CEO

Bookings to Turkiye, Azerbaijan, and China remain suspended amid geopolitical tensions as Ixigo projects double-digit revenue growth and stronger user spending

Travel aggregator Ixigo on Friday said its decision to block bookings to Turkiye, Azerbaijan, and China would stay amid the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan where the West Asian countries had taken a pro-Islamabad stand.

 

“We remain dedicated to reviewing our position on this issue as the situation evolves. We will reassess our stance on the basis of how the geopolitical equations change, and will do what is right for the broader travel ecosystem,” Aloke Bajpai, chairman and group chief executive officer (CEO) of Ixigo, told Business Standard.

 

The travel aggregator is among several India-based players that have stopped taking bookings to the countries, and have witnessed a sharp rise in cancellations over the past week or so. Ixigo expects to clock a double-digit revenue growth in the coming years while sustaining an over 40 per cent growth in gross transaction value (GTV) in the ongoing financial year 2025-26 (FY26), as travel momentum continues in the country. 

 

In its results for the fourth quarter of 2024-25 (Q4FY25) announced earlier this week, the company reported a 128 per cent hike in net profit to ₹16.7 crore from ₹7.3 crore in the year-ago period. GTV on the platform crossed ₹4,418.4 crore in the quarter. While flight and bus GTV each grew 92 per cent annually, train GTV grew by 41 per cent.

 

The company recorded market share gains in FY25, with a 58 per cent share in the OTA (online travel agency) train market, and a 15-16 per cent share in the bus OTA space.

 

“Our flight segment is growing steadily, now in double digits, up from 5-6 per cent last year. The most exciting part of this is that 50 per cent of new flight bookers are first-time flyers,” Bajpai said.

 

For the player that competes with MakeMyTrip, Cleartrip, Easemytrip, and other platforms, customer experience remains of utmost importance, which is why Bajpai said that Ixigo had launched services like “flight tracker pro” and “price lock” to add value to bookings.

 

“I want to sell peace of mind to my customers and these features are aiding the growth of spending per person. We have seen a 22 per cent year-on-year increase in average spend per user as they continue to upgrade their travel choices while also buying either higher-value products or more value-added services that we sell on top,” he said.