IndiGo offers up to 10% discount to vaccinated passengers

IndiGo is the first airline in the country to offer such discounts to customers who have taken the COVID jab

Yaruqhullah Khan

June 23, 2021 / 10:51 AM IST

Interglobe Aviation-run IndiGo airline is offering a discount of up to 10 percent on the base fares to customers who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, the airline said in a press release on June 23.

The largest domestic airline in terms of market share in India becomes the first airline in the country to offer its customers a discount for getting vaccinated at a time when the Ministry of Civil Aviation has set a fare cap on seat pricing.

IndiGo said it expects its move to promote more people in India to go and get the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Being the largest airline in the country, we feel it is our responsibility to contribute to the national vaccination drive, by encouraging more people towards this common goal. This offer will not only strengthen their resolve towards vaccination but also ensure that they can travel safely at affordable fares with IndiGo," the airline said in a press release.

IndiGo said that the offer is only available to vaccinated passengers aged 18 years and above, who are located in India at the time of booking and have already received a Covid-19 vaccine in the country.

"Passengers who have availed the offer at the time of booking shall be required to furnish a valid Covid-19 vaccination certificate, issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. Alternately, they can display their vaccination status on the Aarogya Setu mobile application at the airport check-in counter/boarding gate," the airline said in a press release.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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