You can now book a ‘full row’ to maintain social distancing on SpiceJet flights

• SpiceJet now allows customers to book two seats or even a full row, in order to ensure safety in times of coronavirus.
• The company said that ‘SpiceJet Extra Seats’ is available across the airline’s domestic network at a discounted rate at dynamic pricing and depends on the ticket price.
• Passengers opting for extra seats will also be entitled to complimentary privilege services such as priority check-in, preferred boarding and bag out service.

India’s largest cargo operator SpiceJet now allows customers to book two seats or even a full row in its passenger flights, in order to ensure safety in times of coronavirus.

The company said that ‘SpiceJet Extra Seats’ is available across the airline’s domestic network at a discounted rate which is dynamic and depends on the ticket price.

This move follows its peers IndiGo and Vistara, who allowed customers to book two seats for a single passenger. However, unlike IndiGo and Vistara, the passengers will be available to book extra seats online through the airline’s website and its agent portal. Passengers opting for extra seats will also be entitled to complimentary privilege services such as priority check-in, preferred boarding and bag out service.

“While air travel remains the safest mode of transport, we have been constantly thinking on how to make the travel experience even more comfortable and safer. SpiceJet’s Extra Seat feature is a step in that direction,” said Shilpa Bhatia, chief commercial officer, SpiceJet.

The second move in a week to lure customers

The cash crunched airline already had many hurdles to deal with until the pandemic arrived, making the aviation sector one of the worst-hit. The pessimism around the travel sector and suspension of international flights drowned the air passenger traffic by almost 80%.

Although the flights were suspended for just two weeks in March, the company registered a quarterly loss of ₹807.1 crore. And, it is expected to grow bigger for the first quarter of the current financial year— when the domestic flights were shut for more than 50 days, and international flights never began.

This is the second attempt by SpiceJet to lure more customers. This comes on the heels of its ‘1+1 offer sale’ which it announced on Monday (August 5) and was withdrawn after Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) raised concerns over it.

Earlier this week, SpiceJet announced a five-day “1+1 offer sale” where it was offering one-way base fares starting as low as ₹899, excluding taxes, on its domestic network. Since it did not comply with the government-imposed fare limits, the DGCA asked SpiceJet to stop the sale.

The Civil Aviation Ministry had on May 21 placed upper and lower limits on domestic airfares through seven bands, classified on the basis of flight duration, till August 24. Later, it was extended until November 24.

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