As domestic flight operations are set to begin from May 25 onwards, cash-strapped online travel agencies (OTAs) finally have something to cheer about. Websites like MakeMyTrip, Ixigo and Cleartrip among others, had suspended bookings since the nationwide lockdown began in March. These companies are now looking to get their operations back on track in time for resumption of flights from May 25 onwards.

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“The industry needs to collaborate and focus on advertising all the confidence-building measures that will reassure travellers that they can get back on a plane,” said Aloke Bajpai, co-founder and CEO, Ixigo, in a statement, “Re-opening domestic flights will give a big boost to the economy and kickstart the recovery of the travel industry."

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A tweet from union civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said: “standard operating procedures for passenger movement are being separately issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.” Bajpai added that OTAs will now look forward to receiving these guidelines from the civil aviation ministry before resuming operations.

More Questions Than Answers:

Even as the industry awaits guidelines from the ministry, industry players say several questions over the resumption of domestic operations remain.

"Does the decision to resume flight operations from a state rest with the state government in question? Do states like Karnataka that have imposed mandatory quarantine and have barred the entry of passengers from states like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu intend to do the same for air passengers from these states as well?” said Pick Your Trail co-founder, Hari Ganapathy, speaking exclusively to CNBC-TV18.

Also read: Lufthansa Group plans to resume flight services to India in June

"We also need clarity on whether the government intends to regulate airfares since that is a crucial component to doing business,” Hari added.

On its part, the government has said that the ministry of civil aviation will clarify its guidelines on resumption of operations, on Thursday. Regulation of airfares aside, another key question is whether or not the government will mandate keeping an aircraft’s middle-seat vacant. While a vacant middle seat could help in social distancing, it would shrink seating capacity of airlines and impact airfares.

End Of Pain For OTAs?

Irrespective of what the government’s guidelines will be, the fact is OTAs will welcome any resumption of business. Several OTAs have have already fired staff and cut salaries. Ixigo announced pay-cuts of between 20 and 60 percent for its staff, with the company’s co-founders, Rajnish Kumar and Bajpai deciding to forego their entire salary.

PickYourTrail told CNBC-TV18 that it has laid-off 35 percent of its workforce, while pay-cuts of up to 100 percent have been announced. The company is now contemplating shifting its focus from international travel bookings and experiences, to the domestic OTA market, where it will compete with the likes of MakeMyTrip and others.

Also read: Empty middle seat? Depends on which country you are flying in

In the absence of flight bookings for nearly two months, MakeMyTrip has used the downtime to foray into the food delivery space by running deliveries from five-star hotels like the JW Marriott and Roseate in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, competing with the likes of Swiggy and Zomato.

First Published:May 20, 2020 8:28 PM IST