How the flyer's fear of Covid may help airlines monetise the middle seat

Experts say with demand for social distancing high, the sale an empty seat as add-on can be a good revenue source

Operating flights at half capacity, given the inevitable need to ensure social distancing, has prompted airlines to cash in on the middle seat. Carriers will now offer the same as an ancillary product. Ancillary revenue is derived from goods/services that are secondary in nature, with respect to the business.

Vistara, the Tata-SIA joint venture, started allowing passengers to book an extra seat from Tuesday. IndiGo and SpiceJet, too, are in the final stages of designing such a product to be sold as an add-on. 

“The decision was taken after an internal survey with customers, which showed that many of them