IndiGo has cut 19,106 July flights this week, based on the carrier's schedule submission to data experts Cirium. This means it has removed over four in ten services planned for this month, equating to a loss of 3.3 million seats. This clearly demonstrates the struggle confronting Indian carriers.

IndiGo has cut four times more flights than the world's next most impacted carrier, Taiwan's Uni Air. For India as a whole, almost 27,000 July flights have been removed this week, despite passenger numbers rising. Because IndiGo is by far the country's leading carrier, it is no surprise that it is the most affected.

IndiGo Airbus A321neo
The pandemic has given IndiGo the chance to grow its A321neo fleet size by over 300%, priming it for an expansion. Photo: Bahnfrend via Wikimedia Commons

88 routes cut for this month

IndiGo has now removed 88 routes from sale in July. They were available last week, but no more. Most will resume in August or later, subject to the coronavirus situation. While Kuwait has seen eight routes pulled, it isn't the worst affected international destination.

That is Colombo. The airline has cut 108 flights to the Sri Lankan airport, with Delhi and Mumbai both postponed, based on present border restrictions. Across all 88 routes, 4,831 flights (and 707,000 seats) will no longer be flown.

All of these routes have been pulled from sale this week. 59 had a once-daily+ service planned, with the 237-mile link between Nagpur and Indore the most impacted. Image: GCMap.

Mumbai-Delhi is down by 558 flights

The 705-mile service from Mumbai to Delhi has seen a greater reduction than any other airport-pair. This isn't surprising given it is normally by far IndiGo's most-served route. Last week, some 930 round-trip services were planned, but that is now 372. This means daily outbound flights have reduced from 15 to six.

Indigo-Runway-Landing
No official cause for the deviation has been given. Photo: Getty Images.

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IndiGo’s 10 biggest cuts: 3,479 flights removed

Routes with the greatest number of pulled flights are shown below. Of all airports served, Delhi has seen the biggest reduction, with almost 4,000 fewer services. 50 routes from the Indian capital have seen a fall. In contrast, two routes have more flights this week than they did in the previous week. Srinagar is up by 17%, while services into the mountains to Leh have doubled.

  • Delhi-Mumbai: 558 July flights pulled
  • Mumbai-Bangalore: 372
  • Kolkata-Mumbai: 366
  • Ahmedabad-Delhi: 364
  • Bangalore-Delhi: 364
  • Hyderabad-Chennai: 307
  • Delhi-Kolkata: 310
  • Bangalore-Hyderabad: 302
  • Bangalore-Chennai: 276
  • Chennai-Kolkata: 260
India Aviation IndiGo
Under the new rule, airlines can fly at 85% pre-COVID capacity on domestic routes in India. Photo: Getty Images

Three routes have been added

While 289 routes have been removed or have lower frequencies this month, there are pockets of positivity. Some 18 routes have more flights, led by Delhi-Srinagar, while three routes added back to IndiGo's network:

  • Hyderabad-Trichy; resuming July 12th; once-daily by the ATR-72
  • Indore-Kolkata: July 3rd; four-weekly; A320
  • Doha-Lucknow: July 16th; once-weekly; A320

Are you planning to fly IndiGo this summer? If so, where are you going? Let us know in the comments.