IndiGo woes spark bus booking surge, fares triple on key routes

• IndiGo flight cancellations, due to stricter DGCA safety regulations, caused a significant surge in intercity bus bookings.
• Bus fares on affected routes, especially between major metros like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Mumbai, increased by up to three times the normal rate.
• Redbus reported a 17% rise in seat bookings (Dec 5-8 vs Dec 1-4), with some high-demand routes seeing a 30% increase.
• Platforms like AbhiBus also noted a 10-15% increase in bookings, prompting bus operators to deploy more fleet and introduce new services.
• Travellers, including celebrity chef Suresh Pillai, turned to buses for urgent last-minute travel due to flight disruptions and unavailable train tickets.

Why It Matters: IndiGo cancellations caused bus demand and fares to surge, impacting intercity travel.