IndiGo, the largest private airline in the country has announced that it will give a 25 percent discount on the airfare to doctors and nurses till the end of 2020 as they are at the forefront of the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.
"The nurses and doctors will be required to provide valid hospital IDs at the time of check-in as a proof of their identity," the airline said.
"The discount will be offered while booking through IndiGo's website, valid for sale and travel from July 01, 2020 till December 31, 2020," it added.
Earlier this year, Qatar Airways, one of the largest airline in the world has announced that it will offer 1,00,000 free return tickets to frontline healthcare professionals to thank them for their efforts in battling the coronavirus crisis. The?Doha based airline?made the announcement on the occasion of International Nurses Day.?
¡°We at?Qatar Airways?are incredibly grateful for the commitment and hard work of healthcare professionals around the world who looked after people in these times of uncertainty,¡± Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker had said.
IndiGo's discount offer for COVID-19 frontline workers comes at a time when the aviation sector is struggling to pick up following the resumption of domestic flights in India after lockdown restrictions were lifted.
Passenger loads continue to be low in domestic flights, the operations of which resumed on May 25 after a gap of two months.
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that 71,471 passengers travelled on 785 flights on July 1. This means, on an average, there were 91 passengers in a plane on Wednesday. Since the commonly used A320 aircraft has around 180 seats in it, this means that the passenger load was just around 50 per cent on July 1.
IndiGo has termed the scheme as a "Tough Cookie" campaign.
"As part of the initiative, IndiGo will track the Tough Cookie journey to make it special every step of the way, starting from a complementary cookie tin at check-in, welcome announcement at the boarding gate, special Tough Cookie sticker on the PPE and in-flight announcement giving them a warm welcome on-board," it said.