Covid-19: Cap on airfares to stay for 3 months, says minister Puri

Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said airfares in India will remain capped for three months till 24 August as the county gradually opens up the economy while battling covid-19.

Puri said airlines have been allowed to operate at one-third the capacity of the approved summer schedule for a month as India reopens the civil aviation sector, which has been battered by the novel coronavirus crisis.

The minister said the capping of air fares was decided keeping in mind the interest of passengers as well as airlines.

“Starting Monday, 25 May, we will recommence domestic civil aviation in a calibrated manner to a limited extent of the required and approved capacity of the summer schedule 2020," he said.

The cap on air fares has been decided in seven categories starting with flights with less than 40 minutes travel time and in six other categories of 30 minutes of incremental travel time.

Accordingly, the floor and ceiling of the Delhi-Mumbai flight ticket fares will be ₹3,500 and ₹10,000, respectively.

"Tickets in this fare band are split into different buckets. We are putting a second rider. 40% of the seats have to be sold at a fare that is lower than the midpoint of the maximum fare. We are ensuring that the fare does not go out of hand and at the same time, it is viable for airlines also. It is only for the period of scarcity," explained civil aviation secretary Pradeep Kharola.

According to a government announcement Wednesday, domestic airline operations will resume from airports across all major cities in the country from 25 May. Flight operations will resume from all major Indian airports, including ones located in tier one cities.

India had suspended all flights on 25 March when the government first imposed a nationwide lockdown to contain covid-19. The lockdown has since been extended thrice, every fortnight, from the initial announcement date. The latest and fourth phase will run till 31 May.

Earlier this week, Indian carriers reopened bookings for passenger flights from 1 June even before the government announced its plans to resume flight services from 25 May.

Source: https://www.livemint.com

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