
The void created after Jet Airways' closure has hit hard on passengers' pockets, with several international routes seeing a surge in flight ticket fares. Flights to places like London, New York, Sydney, Dubai and Toronto have been a significant rise in fares since Jet Airways' shutdown in April. The maximum fare surge of up to 157 per cent (when compared with the corresponding month last year) was seen on the Mumbai-New York route in March, claims travel platform Cleartrip. As per the data collected by the platform for June, a maximum of 58 per cent rise in fare was seen on the Mumbai-Toronto route, followed by 49 per cent on the Mumbai-New York route. The Mumbai-Singapore route also saw a major rise of 36 per cent in fare in June alone.
Jet Airways, which last year had a fleet size of over 140 planes, closed its operation completely on April 17. The airline used to operate around 120 daily international flights until December 2018. The sudden closure of its operations led to a huge decline in capacity. "Sectors such as Mumbai-London, where Jet had as many as three daily flights, have been deeply affected," Rakshit Desai, MD, FCM Travel Solution told the Economic Times, adding that the upper-class tickets had seen the biggest fare surge.
The government last week had allotted about 400 slots, both arrival and departure, to the rival airlines of Jet Airways. SpiceJet alone received 130 slots, with the maximum number at the Mumbai airport (68), of total 214 vacated by Jet Airways. Jet Airways has more than 440 slots at Mumbai and Delhi airports.
The SBI-led consortium of banks that had extended loans to Jet Airways this month agreed to file insolvency proceedings against the airline after the bank-led resolution process failed to get any results. The consortium had been in control of the company's board since March after the exit of founder Naresh Goyal. The bankruptcy tribunal said the matter was of "national importance" and ordered a resolution as per the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Act within three months.
Jet Airways eroded investor wealth worth Rs 9,430 crore in 18 months
Edited by Manoj Sharma