Budget carrier IndiGo on Saturday announced waiving of cancellation and rescheduling charges on flight bookings till March 31 due to the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak.

The cancellation fee has been waived off on existing and new domestic and international bookings made between March 12 and March 31, IndiGo said in a statement. Also, there will be no fee charged for date change for flights booked between March 12 to March 31, it said.

Messages are already pouring in for the airlines, which has delayed several flights despite its 'on time' undertaking, with customers requesting for help. The carrier also responded to a comment on its Twitter handle, saying that 'necessary charges will be applicable upon cancellation'.

The waiver, however, comes with a rider.

”We understand that some passengers are concerned about committing to travel, given the current coronavirus issue. To take this anxiety away and make their travel hassel-free, we are waiving our normal change fee on all travel during the next two weeks and for all new bookings made in that period,” IndiGo Chief Commercial Officer William Boulter said in the statement.

This will enable IndiGo fliers to book their flights at “affordable” fares with flexibility of rescheduling without change fee, if needed, he said.

”While the coronavirus is a serious challenge for all of us, we believe that measures such as this will help alleviate its effect on India's travel,” Boulter added.

A passenger will have to pay the fare difference in case of rescheduling the journey to a later date, as per the terms and conditions.

Also, the customer will have to intimate the airline three days in advance for rescheduling of the journey.