Indore (Madhya Pradesh): IndiGo’s pilot shortage crisis has not only caused huge loss to the passengers but the airport administration also incurred a revenue loss of about Rs 2 crore in 5 days.
According to airport officials, all airlines have to pay different charges to the airport for their flights but large scale cancellation of IndiGo flight operations meant that the airport suffered a substantial loss of income, as these payments halted.
The loss of revenue to the airport is significant as IndiGo is the largest flight operator of the city airport having a share of approximately half of all flights that land or depart from the city airport, said sources, adding that in normal circumstances, approximately 12,000 to 14,000 passengers arrive or depart from the city airport daily.
The disruption in the operation of IndiGo flights began on December 4 and severely impacted the number of flights to and from the city airport till December 8. The average passenger traffic during these five days decreased by 40% to 45%. The situation was at its worst on December 5h when 42 flights were cancelled and around 5,000 to 6,000 passengers had to return from the airport. IndiGo refunded these passengers their full ticket amount, resulting in zero fees for the airport authority.
Aviation experts say that passengers booking flights from the city airport are charged an average of over Rs 700 per ticket, including User Development Fee (UDF), Regional Connectivity Charge (RCC), and Aviation Security Fee. The airport authority spends the fee on maintaining and expanding passenger facilities.
During the crisis, approximately 5,000 to 6,000 daily did not pay these charges owing to cancellation of their tickets leading to approximately Rs 35 to Rs 40 lakh daily loss for the airport. Cumulatively the airport incurred a total financial loss of about Rs 2 crore in these 5 days.
