New Delhi : The Centre has directed all airlines to strictly adhere to the newly prescribed fare caps as flight ticket prices surged to eye-watering levels amid the disruptions triggered by the ongoing IndiGo crisis. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has taken serious note of concerns regarding unusually high airfares being charged by certain airlines during the ongoing disruption.
The price caps will remain in force until the situation fully stabilises, the ministry said. Over the past few days, over a thousand flights of IndiGo, India’s largest budget carrier, were cancelled as it struggled to rejig crew rosters in the wake of the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms.
Adding to the woes of the travellers was a staggering surge in flight ticket prices, with some routes seeing an exorbitant 4x rise in fares.
With chaos all over, domestic airfares tripled and quadrupled to metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru. For example, ticket prices for a non-stop Delhi–Mumbai flight shot up to Rs 65,460. One-stop options were priced between Rs 38,376 and Rs 48,972. Moreover, a one-way, one-stop economy-class Kolkata-Mumbai flight ticket for December 6 showed Rs 90,000. Bengaluru-New Delhi fares also shot up to Rs 88,000.
The ministry will continue to closely monitor fare levels through real-time data and active coordination with airlines and online travel platforms. Any deviation from the prescribed norms will attract immediate corrective action,” it further said.
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