Overview
- On Wednesday Air India confirmed it will temporarily reduce domestic frequencies by roughly 20–22% for June–August and IndiGo will trim about 5–7% over the same period.
- Air India and other carriers point to aviation turbine fuel prices that have risen from around ₹80,000 per kilolitre to over ₹100,000 per kilolitre and to longer routings caused by restricted West Asia airspace as the main drivers.
- Affected flights are being pulled from booking systems and the airlines say impacted passengers will be offered re-accommodation, complimentary date changes, or full refunds.
- The network pruning will remove roughly 250 domestic flights per day across Air India, Air India Express and IndiGo and is likely to reduce seat supply and push fares higher on some routes.
- State VAT cuts on jet fuel have been introduced in places such as Delhi and Maharashtra but carriers say restoration of frequencies depends on fuel and demand stabilising and on easing of airspace restrictions.