India airline IndiGo allows women to select seats next to each other

Women flying with IndiGo can select seats next to other women.

A major airline is trialling a system that allows female passengers to select seats next to other women.

IndiGo Airlines is a budget airline in India and one of the most popular carriers.

The airline announced the new feature means solo female travellers and those travelling as part of a group can see where other women are seated when booking a ticket and selecting a seat.

Male passengers will be able to select their seats but seemingly do not have the option to see the gender of passengers when selecting seats.

IndiGo said it was proud of the new feature and claimed it would make travel better for women.

“IndiGo is proud to announce the introduction of a new feature that aims to make the travel experience more comfortable for our female passengers,” IndiGo said in a statement to CNN.

“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 update was part of the airline’s “#GirlPower ethos” and the company did not provide further detail about why they introduced the feature.

However, gender politics, religion and traditional norms may provide an explanation. India has made progress in women’s rights in recent decades, however, the country is still largely influenced by traditional attitudes towards women, which could explain an increased desire for privacy and modesty. As a result, women, particularly those from conservative regions, may prefer to sit with other women.

Online, the new feature has received a largely positive, albeit mixed, response from men and women. On a Reddit thread dedicated to the news, many people approved the new feature as it legitimised a practice women already did.

One person said they had seen women appear uncomfortable when sitting next to men they did not know.

“Hostesses had to ask men sitting next to women in another row, if they would switch seats,” they wrote.

“Check-in counter personal would take this into account when assigning seats,” another added, suggesting staff already tried to seat women next to one another.

Another pointed out that other transport systems automatically do this in India.

“There’s an automated system for this in Indian railways which has been rather helpful, keeping me around women whenever I am travelling,” they wrote.

Others supported the feature but said it didn’t fix the larger issue.

“I feel really sad that it has come to this. Women should be and feel safe regardless of the people sitting next to them,” one person wrote.

“It’s a shame that this has become such an endemic issue that we need to resort to gender segregation,” another added.