Domestic air travel to become costlier
The government has increased the lower and upper limits of domestic airfare from 10 to 30 percent. The Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Thursday that the new limit will remain in force till March 31 or next order this year. Under the new arrangement, the minimum fare for a journey with less than 40 minutes of flight time has now been increased to Rs 2,200, up from Rs 2,000 earlier. Aircraft companies will now be able to charge a maximum of Rs 7,800 for the same period, against the earlier limit of Rs 6,000. The Ministry has also stated that the maximum number of passengers in domestic aircraft will not exceed 80 percent of their total capacity. This decision will also be applicable till 31 March or the next order this year.
As far as the fare is concerned, now passengers will have to pay a minimum of Rs 2,800 and a maximum of Rs 9,800 for a flight of 40-60 minutes duration. Earlier this range was Rs 2,500-7,500. At the same time, for traveling for more than an hour and 90 minutes i.e. one and a half hours, now passengers will have to pay up to Rs 3,300-11,700. At the same time, a journey of more than one and a half hours and up to two hours (90-120 minutes) will now be available for a minimum of Rs 3,900, while the airlines will be able to charge a maximum of Rs 13,000. Under the new limit, for travel from two hours to two and a half hours (120-150 minutes), now Rs 5,000-16,900, for two and a half hours to three hours (150-180 minutes), Rs 6,100-20,400 for three hours. For a journey of up to three and a half hours (180-210 minutes), passengers will have to pay Rs 7,200-24,200. Earlier the maximum fare for domestic air travel was Rs 18,600.
On May 21 last year, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) directed the airlines to charge less than the minimum and maximum price for at least 40 per cent of the seats. For example, if the minimum fares for a time period were Rs 5,000 and a maximum of Rs 10,000, the airlines had to provide at least 40 per cent of the seats for less than Rs 7,500. At that time, DGCA had also told the companies that none of their flights would carry more than 33 percent of the total capacity. In June last year, this limit was increased to 45 per cent and gradually to 80 per cent. On Thursday, the DGCA retained this limit of 80 per cent till 31 March this year.
