New Delhi: As per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) report, air fares on major routes witnessed a drop, with Delhi-Mumbai witnessing a significant drop of 70%.
The rate for Delhi-Mumbai flights is around Rs 6,000, much lower than Rs 20,000 estimated earlier this month. Similarly, rates on other major routes have been reduced by 5 to 74 percent.
A senior aviation ministry official said, “With the cooperation of the DGCA and the ministry, we have been able to bring down the airfares. The airfares for flights connecting Delhi to Pune and Mumbai have been reduced by 70 and 74 per cent respectively. Additionally, the airfares for flights from Delhi to Ahmedabad have been reduced by 66 percent.
On June 5, Minister Scindia held a meeting with the Airlines Consultative Group on air fares, where he said, “Private airline companies also play a social responsibility, and there should be a cap on fare hike in all sectors.”
Michael Jain, CEO of Belair Travel, said, “The absence of GoAir, the Balasore train accident and the summer vacation rush led to an increase in airfares. Airlines took advantage of the demand-supply gap to strategically raise prices. However, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA) and the DGCA intervened and urged the airlines to rationalize the fares. The intervention is aimed at balancing passenger affordability and industry sustainability, promoting a fairer and more transparent pricing system.
Several factors were responsible for the hike in airfares in late May and early June. Operational concerns had the effect of suspending flight operations of low-cost carrier GoFirst in early June as well as its voluntary bankruptcy filing in May.