An economy-class ticket on Delhi-London flights has been available for between Rs 1.03 lakh and Rs 1.47 lakh during August, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Sunday. “There are media reports claiming India-UK one-way economy class fares have touched Rs 4 lakh. These reports have no proven basis. The veracity of Shri Sanjeev Gupta’s claim has been thoroughly checked by DGCA,” the ministry said on Twitter.

“The fares offered on the Delhi-London sector (Economy class) range from Rs 1.03-1.21 lakhs for Indian carriers and Rs 1.28-1.47 lakhs for UK carriers for travel during August 2021,” it added. On Saturday, Sanjeev Gupta, Secretary, Inter-State Council Secretariat, Union Home Ministry, had complained on Twitter that an economy-class ticket on British Airways’s Delhi-London flight for August 26 was priced Rs 3.95 lakh.

“There are media reports claiming India-UK one-way economy class fares have touched Rs 4 lakh. These reports have no proven basis. The veracity of Shri Sanjeev Gupta’s claim has been thoroughly checked by DGCA,” the ministry said on Twitter.

The data submitted to the regulator shows minimum one-way economy class fares on Delhi-London flights nonstops during August ranging from Rs 1,03,191 to Rs 1,47,544 on different days this month across the four airlines that operate between the two countries — Air India, Vistara, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

After Gupta’s Twitter post, the Directorate General of Civl Aviation (DGCA) asked the airlines that operate India-UK flights currently to submit details about their fares. While there have been lower and upper limits on all domestic airfares in India since May 25 last year, no such limits have been imposed on international airfares.

Air India — which used to operate 13 weekly flights to UK before April 23 when restrictions were imposed on travellers from here — said it had allowed affected passengers to defer their India-UK bookings.

“These passengers have re-booked on available flights now, creating a steep surge in bookings on many India-UK flights. Seats on economy class have been sold on fares mostly ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 45,000. As most of the regular flights (from Delhi/Mumbai/Bengaluru) to UK are booked near capacity, only upper bucket economy and business class seats are available now,” AI said in a series of tweets.