- IndiGo said on Friday that 60 percent of its domestic flights will be operating on Sunday when’ Janta curfew’ is in place.
IndiGo said on Friday that 60 percent of its domestic flights will be operating on Sunday when’ Janta curfew’ is in place.
Nevertheless, since the pandemic has caused the airline to see a drop in demand, it will fly 25 percent fewer domestic flights for now.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had advised people on Thursday not to leave their homes between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Sunday in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic to follow Janta curfew.
“On Sunday 22 March, the airline will operate approximately 60 percent of its usual domestic schedule in line with the Janta curfew announced by the Prime Minister on 19 March, in order to accommodate those with urgent travel requirements on that day,” the airline said.
“In response to the numerous travel restrictions imposed worldwide, most of our international flights are suspended and, furthermore, given the decline in domestic demand, we are cutting our domestic Indian operations by about 25 percent for now,” he added.
IndiGo said it would constantly monitor operations in this “fluid” situation to adapt the ability to demand.
IndiGo was forced to land 30 planes in its fleet of 258 aircraft following the government’s decision to ban international flights for a week as part of the coronavirus outbreak intervention, a source said Friday. IndiGo operates through airports in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, South Asia, China, and Turkey to 24 international destinations.
“After the government’s declared temporary suspension of all foreign operations for a week from 22 March, IndiGo has grounded up as many as 30 aircraft in its fleet. Most of these planes were being deployed on overseas routes, “PTI was told by the airline source.
This came after news where Ronojoy Dutta, CEO of IndiGo, told employees on Thursday about a company-wide top-down 5 percent-25 percent salary cut in a cost-cutting exercise in response to the coronavirus crisis that has crippled airline operations in India and around the world.
The travel industry remains one of the highly affected industries amid this coronavirus scare which is taking a toll on most of the industries. All we can do is hope that this pandemic ends as soon as possible and we get to resume our life to normal.
