CCI orders probe into IndiGo’s December cancellations that hit a million passengers

THe rivalry charge of republic of india has ordered an investigating into indigo plant after the airline’s widespread flight cancellations in December, which affected nearly a million passengers, highlighted concerns over limited competition in the world’s fastest-growing aviation market.The order published on the CCI’s website on Wednesday followed complaints alleging antitrust violations by India’s largest airline. The antitrust regulator said that one of the complaints accused the budget airline of cancelling hundreds of flights that caused a heavy surge in prices as well as huge inconvenience to passengers.IndiGo did not comment on the notice from the anti-trust watchdog, but an official told HT that an order has been received by the airline and that a reply would be sent after studying it in detail.IndiGo cancelled about 4,500 flights in the first weeks of December.The CCI’s order came even as the airline said on Wednesday that it was curtailing some overseas services, including a recently launched one to Copenhagen, due to operational constraints from airspace closures linked to geopolitical tensions and airport congestion.Data released by the aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on Tuesday showed that the airline’s market share had fallen to to 59.6% in December from 63.6% in November. The disruptions affected 982,000 passengers in December and the airline spent ₹22.74 crore as compensation.The overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines was 6.92% in December, and that of IndiGo was 9.65%.In the wake of the massive disruptions blamed on poor pilot roster planning, the DGCA fined the airline a record $2.45 million( ₹22 crore approx.), issued warnings to senior executives and directed the airline to remove the head of its operations control from his duties.DGCA’s probe found several deficiencies at the airline after stricter pilot rest and duty rules came into effect last year.In a statement on Wednesday, the airline said it would suspend long-haul flights to Copenhagen and trim some services between Delhi and Britain. IndiGo will suspend Copenhagen flights from February 17, just months after launching the route in October. It will also cut Delhi–Manchester services to four flights a week from February 7 and to three from February 19, while reducing Delhi–London Heathrow operations to four flights a week from five.IndiGo did not specify the geopolitical issues it faces, but airspace closures in West Asia, especially Iran, have disrupted airline schedules in recent months.The restrictions and congestion at airports in India and abroad have significantly increased flight times for its leased Boeing Dreamliner jets, IndiGo said.“IndiGo will continue monitoring these external developments and flexibly scale its network up or down to align with evolving conditions,” it said.(With inputs from agencies).