MUMBAI: Passengers of Jet Airways can now take a flight earlier than their scheduled one by paying Rs 1000 more, a facility which comes after the government proposed a cap on ticket cancellation charges and increased compensation for denied boarding, and cancelled and delayed flights.

Domestic airlines at present charge heavy amount for rescheduling or cancelling a flight tickets. In addition, a flier is also forced to pay the difference in the ticket prices in case of a re-booking.

Under “JetAdvance” facility, the passenger will have the flexibility to change the booking to an earlier flight for a nominal fee, Jet Airways said in a statement. According to the airline, this option will be available for the flights having a departure time difference of a maximum of four hours. “Guests are required to be physically present at the airport for managing the booking. The request for time change will be confirmed at the check-in counter, subject to availability of seats and for a fee of Rs 1000 per guest per flight,” it said. The facility will be available for flights across the domestic network of Jet Airways and offers guests the opportunity to travel on an earlier flight. The government has proposed a cap on exorbitant air ticket cancellation fee, a hike in compensation five-fold to Rs 20,000 for denied boarding and steep reduction in excess baggage fee, following complaints by passengers that issues concerning them were not resolved within a reasonable time. Between January and March, 10 Indian carriers accounted for a total of 18,512 delayed flights, according to the official data. As per the data, no-frill carrier IndiGo alone had 5,426 delayed flights, followed by full service carrier Jet Airways with 5,040 flights. National carrier Air India had 3,111 delayed flights, while low-cost domestic carrier Spicejet had 2,205 delayed flights. — PTI