IndiGo becomes first airline to allow women to choose not to sit next to men

The aim of the policy is to make women feel more comfortable travelling

The new seating policy will be available on IndiGo’s 2,000 flights a day (iStock / Getty)

IndiGo has announced a new policy that allows female passengers to choose the gender of the person seated next to them on flights.

The new measure, which is the first of its kind in the global aviation industry, grants women the ability to see the gender of other passengers who have already selected seats and choose to sit next to another woman if they prefer.

Men, however, are not shown this information and can only see available seats.

IndiGo, which is India’s largest low-cost airline, will make the changes from August 2024 on all of its flights. It operates 2,000 domestic and international flights a day.

During the online check-in process, female passengers will be able to view a seating plan, with seats occupied by other females marked in pink, to help them decide where to sit.

The idea for this policy change came from an IndiGo survey, which asked women what would make travel more comfortable.

IndiGo said in a statement seen by CNN, “IndiGo is proud to announce the introduction of a new feature that aims to make the travel experience more comfortable for our female passengers. This has been introduced basis market research, and is currently in pilot mode aligning with our #GirlPower ethos.”

“We are committed to providing an unparalleled travel experience for all our passengers, and this new feature is just one of the many steps we are taking towards achieving that goal,” the airline added.

While it is the first airline to introduce this policy, trains and buses in India already allow women to book seats next to other women

On a Reddit forum discussing IndiGo’s announcement, several women welcomed the news.

“There’s an automated system for this in Indian railways which has been rather helpful, keeping me around women whenever I am travelling,” one Reddit user  wrote.

Another added: “It’s great that they are offering us choices.

“Once I was travelling and my seat was in the middle of two men. The space between them was nil. I was too shy to ask for the crew to let me change my seat. Thankfully, one crew lady asked me to change and occupy the empty emergency seat.”

IndiGo has also recently announced that it plans to introduce business class in flights this year, amidst growing demand for flights.

August marks the 18th anniversary of the low-cost carrier, which is a codeshare partner with British Airways.

The codeshare allows passengers to book a single through-ticket from London Heathrow to eight Indian destinations, with rebooking protection in case of missed connections.

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