IndiGo, Vistara shut bookings till May 31

This follows the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) circular issued late on Sunday evening directing all airlines “to refrain from booking tickets” after May 4. Further the airlines were told that they will be given sufficient notice and time for restarting operations. “This is for strict compliance by all airlines,” the circular said.

Initially, the airlines declined to follow the order and asked for greater clarity on when they will be allowed to reopen bookings. But after some time, the domestic airlines decided to follow the latest DGCA order. What prompted this change in thinking in the airlines was not immediately clear.

Eventually most airlines starting with IndiGo decided to implement the circular. IndiGo decided to shut bookings till May 31 thereby ending all speculations on whether the government order will be flouted again or not.