Domestic flight tickets price: Civil Aviation Ministry on Friday (May 28) has increased the lower limit on fares of domestic air travel by 15%. The revision of rates will come into effect from June 1, according to an official order by the ministry.
Taking into account air passenger numbers falling dramatically over the last three months because of the second Covid-19 surge, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has also reduced the capacity that can be deployed by airlines on domestic routes to 50 per cent of pre-Covid levels from June 1 onward. This is compared to the existing 80 per cent. This is the first time the government has cut the capacity ceiling on flights since domestic operations resumed on May 25 last year, following a two-month lockdown.
Check revised airfare: According to the order from the DGCA, the airfare for domestic travel less than 40 minutes of duration will be hiked by Rs 2,300 to Rs 2,600, which is 13 per cent of the current fare. On the other hand, the domestic flights with duration between 40 minutes to one hour will have airfares at a lower limit of Rs 3,300. Notably, the airfares for such flights were earlier capped by the ministry at Rs 2,900.
As a result, for instance, Delhi-Mumbai one-way minimum fare will rise from Rs 4,100 to Rs 4,700 (taxes extra). Maximum fares in domestic bands have not been changed.
This is the third hike this year due to spiralling jet fuel prices, the biggest cost item for airlines — with a majority of Indian carriers struggling to survive in the absence of any fiscal support from the government during the pandemic.
“In view of the sudden surge in number of active Covid cases across the country, decrease in passenger traffic and passenger load factor (aircraft occupancy), the existing cap of 80% is reduced to 50% from June 1,” says an order issued by aviation ministry joint secretary S K Mishra on Friday.
Aviation minister H S Puri had Tweeted this Tuesday: “Beginning with about 30,000 passengers on May 25, 2020, number of daily passengers crossed 3 lakh on several occasions. Fewer people are travelling during this second wave. But with more people getting vaccinated, we are hopeful the domestic aviation figures will again pick up.”
