Coronavirus outbreak: IndiGo witnesses some cancellations on flights to China
India's largest budget carrier IndiGo said on Monday it has seen some cancellations on its flight to China, which is hit by Coronavirus outbreak. IndiGo currently runs two daily direct flights to China, one is on Delhi-Chengdu route and another is on Kolkata-Guangzhou route.
"The virus situation is obviously being monitored very closely. And, we have seen some cancellations as well," IndiGo Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta said during the post-Q3 earnings analysts call.
He, however, said the airline has not yet taken a decision on the capacity adjustment so far in the aftermath of the outbreak.
"But, as you can see, this is an ever-evolving story. So, every day, we have a conference call talking to all our people, especially in China. And, we are looking at how our bookings (and) based on that (we) will take a decision," he added.
He said that while the east-bound traffic has been affected, the west-bound traffic in fact has seen an uptick as the people are coming out of China.
"So, we seem to pick up on that, but equally we have seen the cancellation going into China. So, these are still early days and we are monitoring closely," he added.
He said that IndiGo had revised downward its capacity forecast to 20 per cent for 2020-21 from 25 per cent projected earlier as the aircraft deliveries from Airbus are slower than the airline anticipated.
"Our fourth quarter is off to weak start because of the engine changes and all that. And, after June, we will really ramp up the aircraft utilisation. So, it is weak in the first quarter...and then ramp up towards the end. So, it is the aircraft utilisation which is driving this on the engine issue. We've had some delivery delays as well from Airbus. So, it's a combination of both," Dutta said.
He said IndiGo had "very good" contracts with both Airbus and engine maker Pratt & Whitney, adding that "we have good contracts in terms of compensation and we will pursue them vigorously".
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