Monday, March 2, 2026.
Welcome to Quests Daily | Your Compass for the Day in Travel.
The Lead Story: India's New 48-Hour Flight Cancellation Rule: What Changed and What Did Not
India's DGCA revised its Civil Aviation Requirements on February 24, introducing a free 48-hour cancellation and amendment window for flight tickets. Name corrections within 24 hours of booking are now also free if booked directly through an airline's website. Refunds through agents and OTAs must be processed within 14 working days, with liability sitting firmly with the airline, not the intermediary.
The trigger was the IndiGo December 2025 operational collapse, where passengers struggled to get refunds for cancelled and delayed flights. The regulator was pushed to act.
What changed is the baseline. Airlines can no longer quietly pocket cancellation fees in the first 48 hours. What did not change is coverage: the window applies only to tickets booked 7 or more days before departure, leaving corporate and last-minute travellers entirely unprotected.
Bottom line- There is a commercial trade-off buried here. Airlines lose cancellation fee revenue in the short term. What they gain, if the rule holds, is a passenger base that books with slightly more confidence. That is worth more than the fees, which is why the smarter carriers will implement this beyond the minimum requirement.
The Briefing:
International interest in India’s Holi festivities has surged, with searches for travel to cities like Udaipur jumping 459 % and Jaipur also seeing strong growth as international tourists plan trips around the festival. source
Andhra Pradesh’s tourism sector has attracted ₹20,088 crore in investments over the past 18 months since being granted industry status, driving major hotel and destination projects under its 2024–29 policy. source
IAG posts record €5 billion operating profit for 2025 despite carrying 0.4% fewer passengers, driven by stronger pricing, premium cabin demand, and an 11% drop in fuel costs. source
Visual- Stat of the Day:
Takeaway: IndiGo overtook Air India Group in international passenger volumes in April 2025 and has not looked back, carrying 44.4 lakh passengers in Oct-Dec 2025 against Air India's 42.4 lakh. For distribution partners and destination operators, this changes the contracting conversation. IndiGo is no longer a domestic carrier with international routes. It is India's primary international gateway.
Watchlist:
ITB Berlin 2026
March 3–5, Berlin ExpoCenter City, Germany.
IATA AirportIS Forum
March 2, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Quote of the Day-
"Travel is no longer a relationship business. It is an intelligence business. The winners will not have the most inventory. They will have the best decisions."
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