The official said that there is no plan to regulate the airfares.
After cash-strapped GoFirst stopped flying from May 3, air fares on some routes have gone up significantly.
The government has asked airlines to exercise restraint and ensure balance in pricing of air tickets, especially on some routes following the hike in airfares leading to cancellation of flights. distressed go firstAccording to a senior official.
Making it clear that there is no plan to regulate airfares, the official said there should not be a huge difference between tickets sold by airlines in the lower and upper fare buckets.
India is one of the fastest growing civil aviation markets in the world and domestic passenger traffic is on the rise after being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
after the cash crunch GoFirst had stopped flying from May 3There has been a significant increase in airfares on some of the routes operated by the budget carrier. The routes include Delhi-Srinagar and Delhi-Pune. In addition, the capacity reduction due to the GoFirst crisis comes at a time when the peak period for domestic air travel is near.
A senior Civil Aviation Ministry official told reporters that airlines have been asked to “exercise restraint” and “maintain some kind of balance” in the pricing of tickets.
The official said on the condition of anonymity that there cannot be a situation where there is a huge difference between the lowest and highest fares and passengers do not face difficulties in case of exorbitant fares.
The official said that there is no plan to regulate the airfares.
GoFirst, which is undergoing voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings, has canceled flights till May 26. In addition, several IndiGo aircraft have been grounded due to Pratt & Whitney engine issues, while SpiceJet is also facing financial constraints.
The official said capacity is an issue and hoped that resumption of flights by GoFirst at the earliest would help ease the situation ahead of the peak travel season in June.
According to the latest official data, domestic airlines carried 128.88 lakh passengers in April.
There has been a huge jump in the air fares of the routes on which GoFirst was operating.
For example, the average one-way spot fare on the Delhi-Leh route increased by 125 per cent to an average of Rs 13,674 during the May 3-10 period compared to the April 20-28 period, according to data shared by travel portal Ixigo. According to ,
During the same comparable period, the average one-way spot fare on the Delhi-Srinagar route rose by 86 per cent to Rs 16,898, the data showed.
Following the deregulation of the country’s airline sector, airfares are market operated and are neither established nor regulated by the government. Airline pricing operates in several tiers (buckets or reservation booking designers).
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia informed the Lok Sabha on 16 March that “air fares are neither set nor regulated by the government”.
‘Airline pricing system operates in a number of tiers (buckets) which are in line with the practices followed globally. The prices are decided by the airlines taking into consideration the market, demand, weather and other market forces. Air fares rise in tandem with the increase in demand for seats as low-fare buckets sell out faster when airlines offer bookings,” he had said in a written reply.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI,
