Women’s Day 2019: How various airlines operating in the country plan to celebrate

Picture for representation

To celebrate Women’s Day, most airlines operating in India have arranged something very special. It ranges from all-women crew to gifts and upgrades for female passengers. Some are offering special check-in options too.

Air India plans to operate 12 international and more than 40 domestic flights with an all-women crew.

The international flights will include both medium and long-haul routes, while the domestic ones will be short-haul, return flights.

The 12 special international flights scheduled for take-off on March 8 are Delhi-Sydney, Delhi-New York, Delhi-Chicago, Mumbai-London, Mumbai-Delhi-Shanghai, Delhi-Washington, Delhi-Rome, Delhi-London, Delhi-Paris, Mumbai-Newark, Mumbai-New York, and Delhi-San Francisco.

Speaking to IndiaToday, Ashwini Lohani, Chairman and Managing Director, Air India, said, “I would like to congratulate our women crew for operating so many flights on various international and domestic routes fuelled by their indomitable 'nari shakti' (women power)".

The company will be deploying B787 Dreamliners and B777 aircraft to operate the 12 international flights.

GoAir has said all female travellers will get a complimentary upgrade to its business class depending on "availability and on first-come-first-serve basis".

SpiceJet also will operate 22 flights with an all-women crew. Female flyers will also have the option of 'priority check-in' and 'priority boarding' apart from receiving a rose while boarding. Here too, depending on availability, women will be offered an upgrade to SpiceMax seats.

Vistara distributed free biodegradable sanitary napkins to female passengers on its flights.

Apart from an all-women crew flight from New Delhi to Dharamsala, Alliance Air, the regional arm of Air India, will also organise cultural programmes at the airline's office.

Jet Airways too will operate four domestic flights with an all-women crew. Besides this, women will be taking part in ancillary functions such as engineering, ground handling and ground services, security, too.

Female flyers will also get surprise gift hampers; each goody bag will have products from top-notch brands. Moreover, Jet Airways is also supporting the work of two NGOs dealing with women's issues.