New Delhi: Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia Wednesday asserted that maximum fares should remain “within a certain limit”, adding that the airlines must be proactive in terms of monitoring their prices as opposed to being reactive after the government or the regulator steps in.
The minister’s statement comes amid complaints about airfares skyrocketing, especially along certain routes.
Scindia had Monday held a meeting with the Airlines Advisory Group on the issue of “abnormal surge in pricing on certain air routes”. The airlines were told to self-monitor airfares in routes that have seen a considerable surge on routes that were particularly serviced by the now-defunct Go First.
“The civil aviation sector in India, just like the rest of the world, is a seasonal industry,” Scindia said while replying to a query during a press conference in Delhi Wednesday.
“You have high seasons and you have low seasons… Right now, we have a twin demand–one high seasonal demand and two, Go First, which operated on 350 routes, no longer operating on those routes. Therefore, you have a capacity constraint. So, there is a demand increase because of high season and capacity squeeze,” he said.
In May, cash-strapped Go First filed for bankruptcy and its scheduled flight operations have remained suspended.
Scindia added that following his meeting with the airlines Monday, the airfares on specific “high pressure” routes such as Delhi-Srinagar, Delhi-Leh, Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Ahmedabad have come down by 14-61 per cent.
“This is something that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the ministry is monitoring on a daily basis,” he said.
“Even though this is a deregulated sector… we must make sure that maximum prices are within a certain limit and we have conveyed that message to the airlines,” the civil aviation minister said.
Stating that we cannot have prices way beyond what should rationally be done, specifically when we have certain instances taking place, such as the Go First situation or other calamities or extenuating circumstances, Scindia said that the airlines must be proactive in terms of monitoring their prices as opposed to being reactive after the ministry or DGCA steps in.
On Go First, the minister said that the government is “desirous” and “hopeful” that the airlines should resume operations. He said that the bankrupt airline had submitted a plan and that the government has asked some more queries.
“They are supposed to revert. Once DGCA examines that we will move forward,” he said.
Presenting a report card of the aviation sector’s performance in the nine years of the Narendra Modi government Wednesday, the minister said that India is now the third-largest domestic aviation market.
He added that the total number of domestic passengers in 2014 was 60 million which doubled to 143 million in 2020 prior to Covid-19, while International passengers have increased from 43 million to 64 million. In terms of aircraft, the numbers have increased from around 400 in 2014 to 723 in 2023 despite the impact of Covid-19, the minister added.
Till 2014, only 74 airports were operational in the country, by March 2023, the central government operationalised another 74 airports/helipads/water aerodromes, and the aims to take the total to 220, Scindia said.
(Edited by Anumeha Saxena)
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