Airline becomes world’s first to let women choose not to sit next to men

India’s largest Indian low-cost airline is allowing female passengers to chose where they on a flight when they check-in online by showing pink coloured seats to indicate where other women are seated

An airline is the first in the world to offer women the option choose not to sit next to men on the plane, when they check-in for their flight.

The new feature for IndiGo ticket holders is the first of its kind in the global aviation industry and will allow women the ability to see where women who have already selected their seats online are sitting. Men will not be shown this information and will only be able to see the seats available. The new policy change is designed to make women feel more comfortable, particularly when travelling without their friends or family.

During the online check-in process, female passengers will be shown the standard seating plan of their plane, but will differ from other airlines in showing the seats occupied by other females in pink, to help female passengers decide where they want to sit.

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A representative from IndiGo said: “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.

“The feature offers visibility of seats booked by female passengers, only during web check-in. It is specifically tailored to PNRs with women travellers – solo as well as part of family bookings.

“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 representative concluded.

The announcement has experienced a mixed response, with one user on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) labelling the move as “sexist and discriminatory”.

Whilst previously both male and female passengers have expressed that they do not want to sit next to the opposite sex for religious reasons, there was no formal procedure in place. IndiGo’s new initiative could help with this.

The new feature will be implemented in August 2024 on all of its flights and women will be able to use the feature when checking in. IndiGo is India’s largest low-cost airline operator and runs around 2,000 domestic and international flights a day.

The month of August will also mark the airline’s 18th anniversary, which is a codeshare partner with British Airways, which allows passengers to book a single through-ticket from London Heathrow to eight Indian destinations, with rebooking protection in the case of a missed connection.