NEW DELHI: Airlines in India are waiving off change fees amidst rising cancellations and a sharp plunge in bookings due to severe restrictions re-imposed by states in an effort to control the second Covid-19 wave.
SpiceJet on Saturday said that passengers are now entitled to make changes in their travel plan at least five days prior to the date of departure through its ‘Zero Change fee’ offer, instead of the earlier seven days.
IndiGo, on the other hand, is not charging any fees if a customer wants to change their time or date of travel on domestic tickets booked between April 17 and April 30.
National carrier Air India, meanwhile, is giving one free change on domestic tickets till April 30, 2021.
The new offering, according to SpicetJet, allows passengers to modify tickets with a one-time waiver of the charges without any hassle.
“Under the new offering, passengers booking direct domestic flight tickets from 17th April, 2021 to 10th May, 2021 can enjoy a one-time waiver on the change fee for the travel period between 17th April, 2021 and 15th May, 2021. Fare difference will be applicable for flight changes and shall be payable by the customer,” said SpiceJet in a statement.
However, passengers will be allowed a free change only once. In case the flight is changed again, applicable change fees as per standard terms shall be charged.
Additionally, the airline has introduced a special discounted price for add-on services such as SpiceMax and You1st.
As for IndiGo, passengers can now do unlimited changes for new bookings made till April 30, 2021, on regular fares.
“This offer is in line with our philosophy of providing our customers a hassle-free experience, and giving them much-needed flexibility, especially in these times,” said Sanjay Kumar, Chief Strategy & Revenue Officer, IndiGo.
The average daily number of departing passengers from domestic airports has fallen from 2.49 lakh in March to below 2 lakh in recent days as the second Covid wave wrecks havoc.