Air India sets a precedent for IndiGo and SpiceJet⁠— provides free change of dates for all flights cancelled due to coronavirus

• The flag carrier said this is irrespective of their current validity and ticket type.
• The airline also said the same policy is applicable for all international passengers whose flights were cancelled between March 15 till July 31.
• Due to the massive number of cancellations during the lockdown, the airlines in India started offering credit shells, valid up to one year.

Air India in its new waiver policy announced that all tickets of domestic flights that were cancelled between March 15 till August 24 due to coronavirus would be considered valid till the end of the year.

The airline said this is irrespective of their current validity and ticket type, i.e. the value of the ticket will be fully protected. Unlike SpiceJet and Indigo, Air India will allow one free change in travel date without any additional charges.

“The booking must be done before December 31 2021, and the journey must be completed latest by December 31,” it said
The airline said, “Passengers will be allowed to adjust the value of the existing ticket against the new fare.” This means, if the passenger wants to change travel to a different city from the points of origin, they will be allowed to do so; however, they will have to bear the change in the new fare.

“No re-issuance charges will be levied,” the airline added.

The same policy is also applicable for all international passengers whose flights were cancelled between March 15 till July 31 due to suspension of operations amid coronavirus.

According to reports, Air India would have unused tickets worth over ₹500 crore value, and almost 70-80% people would have opted for refunds, as per the earlier refund policy issued by the airline. Due to the massive number of cancellations during the lockdown, other airlines in India instead of providing the full refund of the amount collected for the tickets due to cancellation started offering credit shells, valid up to one year.

This came after the Supreme Court on Friday sought responses from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airlines on a plea seeking issues notice in the plea by travel agents specifically seeking a refund of airline tickets due to cancellation of flights in the wake of the lockdown and restrictions imposed to contain COVID-19 pandemic.

A Supreme Court bench led by J. Ashok Bhushan, which heard the matter through video-conferencing, issued notices to the Ministry of Civil Aviation to respond within three weeks and told the Ministry to call a meeting and iron out technicalities.

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