IndiGo announces ticket price increase effective today

NEW DELHI: Travel on IndiGo flights will now cost more as the company has decided to increase ticket prices from Rs 300 to Rs 1000 for both international and domestic flights. The company cited the rising price of aviation fuel as the reason for this increase. These new rates are effective starting today.

Fuel prices have been steadily rising over the past three months, and fuel costs constitute a significant portion of the revenue generated from airline services. IndiGo, in a statement explained that this fare increase was deemed necessary in light of the current fuel price situation.

Under the new pricing structure, travel tickets for distances up to 500 km will see a Rs 300 increase. Additional fuel charges will be Rs 550 for journeys between 1001 and 1500 km, Rs 800 for distances between 1501 and 2500 km, and Rs 1000 for journeys exceeding 3501 km. It is reported that other airlines may also follow suit and increase their fares after IndiGo.

IndiGo operates more than 1,900 flights per day and holds over 60% of the domestic market share. In 2018, airlines introduced a fuel surcharge, which was later phased out when fuel prices decreased.

In the midst of these pricing changes, there is a continuing issue of flight delays caused by malfunctions in IndiGo aircraft. For instance, a flight scheduled to depart from Dammam to Kozhikode on Wednesday had to be cancelled due to engine failure. It eventually departed on Thursday around 11:30 am. Another flight, A239, which took off from Kozhikode at 7.30 am on Wednesday and landed at Dammam at 10:30 am, had to return due to a fault discovered after take-off. As the plane was taxiing on the runway, the fault reemerged. Engineers prevented the aircraft from taking off, understanding that the issues may not be quickly resolved. Passengers had to spend over four hours inside the plane before eventually being accommodated in hotels.