Several seats without online check-in charges have become available on the website of IndiGo, whose spokesperson said “free seats are on the basis of availability”.
The Telegraph had reported on Wednesday how IndiGo passengers were being told by its customer support system on enquiry that “all seats” are chargeable for web check-in but the airline was telling the media that there would be no charge for web check-in for some seats.
On Wednesday, middle seats on rows 11 and between 14 and 30 on several flights could be blocked online without charges.
In an Airbus A-320 aircraft, IndiGo has 180 seats in 30 rows, each having six seats with two in the middle, one each on either side of the aisle. This suggests 36 out of 180 seats could be blocked through web check-in for free on particular flights at the particular time but members of a group checking in online cannot sit next to one another without paying the charges.
On Tuesday, the same middle seats could be booked on some flights only after paying a charge of Rs 100 apiece.
On Tuesday, a passenger who was trying to book a seat online on Dehradun-Delhi and Delhi-Calcutta flights found that all seats were chargeable. But on Wednesday evening, the same passenger tried web check-in on another flight and found seat 19E could be booked without any charge.
Another passenger could check in online without paying any charge for a seat on flight 6E 856 from Guwahati to Calcutta on December 3. All the other seats were chargeable for online check-in on the same flight.
“This is to further clarify that IndiGo customers will NOT compulsorily have to pay for the seats. The pricing is only for advance selection of seats,” a media statement by the airline said, iterating that “some seats may be available for free depending on the market dynamics for the flight”.
On Wednesday, the customer support system continued to say “all seats” were chargeable.
Asked whether all middle seats between rows 14 and 30 are free, a customer support executive said “all the seats are paid seats…. If you don’t want to pay you can go directly at the airport. The charges are not applicable at the airport.”
