Jyotiraditya Scindia asks airlines to monitor abnormal surge in air fares under certain situations

In an hour-long meeting with the Airlines Advisory Group, the Union Civil Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia discussed the issue of air fares where he shared his concerns regarding the abnormal surge pricing on certain air routes.

During the meeting, he told airlines to self-monitor air fares on certain select routes that have seen considerable surge pricing of late, particularly those that were earlier being serviced by Go First - a mechanism for ensuring reasonable pricing within the high RBDs (Reservation Booking Designator) may be devised by airlines. The air fares will be monitored by DGCA, added Scindia. 

This comes as the government has been getting a lot of complaints lately on social media about the skyrocketing prices of air tickets after the shut down of Go First. During the peak summer season, the tourist hotspot sector like Delhi - Leh and Srinagar have witnessed Delhi return airfares touching around Rs 50,000.

The meeting happened after there were reports of a "huge increase" in fares for flights to and from violence-hit Manipur, even as some airlines temporarily waived off some charges, including rescheduling of flights.

After deregulation of the country’s airline sector, airfares are market driven and are neither established nor regulated by the government. Airline pricing runs in multiple levels (buckets or Reservation Booking Designators). Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, on March 16, informed the Lok Sabha that “airfares are neither established nor regulated by the government".

While pointing out at the unfortunate train accident in Odisha, Scindia said that during any calamity, airlines need to keep a tight check on the pricing of air tickets in view of the humanitarian situation and monitor and control any surge in ticket prices to/from that region.

On Monday, the airlines have also been advised to provide free cargo services to the families of the deceased. The train accident in Balasore on Friday evening left 275 dead and over 1,000 injured.

“The airline pricing system runs in multiple levels (buckets) which are in line with practices being followed globally. The prices are fixed by airlines keeping in mind the market, demand, seasonality and other market forces. The airfare increases with increase in demand for seats as the lower fare buckets get sold out fast when bookings are offered by airlines," he had said in a written reply. India is one of the fastest growing civil aviation markets in the world and domestic passenger traffic has been rising after being significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. In April, domestic airlines flew 128.88 lakh passengers, as per the latest official data.

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