In what would come as respite to
passengers, airlines are set to reduce maximum fares by up to 20 per cent. This
follows the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) directing these to do
so.
“We raised a lot of discrepancies in
the fares charged by various airlines, and asked for these to be rationalised.
They (airlines) will put up a revised schedule on their respective websites in
two days. These fares would be 5-20 per cent less than current fares,” DGCA
chief E K Bharat Bhusan told Business Standard.
All scheduled domestic carriers are mandated to upload their
minimum and maximum domestic fares for all routes on their websites every
month.
SKY HIGH
Maximum fares offered by various airlines between Delhi and Mumbai |
|
Airline
|
Fares* (Rs)
|
Air India
|
29,050
|
GoAir
|
19,430
|
Kingfisher
|
19,300
|
IndiGo
|
12,999
|
Jet Airways
|
NA**
|
*All fares are for one-way economy class travel
** Website not opening |
Noticing a sudden spurt in domestic
air fares in recent months, the DGCA had convened a meeting of chief executives
of all scheduled domestic airlines to express concern on the exponential
increase in air fares charged by a few airlines.
Bhusan said many discrepancies were
found in fares, and the issue was raised in the meeting. The average air fare
increase, which the regulator termed phenomenal, was despite jet fuel prices
rising only 16 per cent in June, compared with June 2011.
Owing to a cut in capacity by
Kingfisher Airlines and the peak summer travel season, fares reached a new
high. Kingfisher Airlines, the second-largest carrier in terms of domestic
passenger carriage, curtailed its capacity, reducing the number of flights from
400 a day to less than 100.
A release from the government stated
it had noticed huge variation in the highest published air fares of different
carriers in the same sector. “Air fares do not show an increasing trend with
the date of departure. Many a times, fares of higher inventory are opened and
then lowered, as the date of departure approaches. This may lead to passengers
buying tickets in advance paying more than those buying tickets later,” said a
release from the government. Even as passenger traffic saw a downward swing in
May, compared with May 2011, air fares saw a disproportionate spurt, it added
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