NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday said airfares (booked for 1 day ahead) have come down by as much as 33% post their intervention on June 5 when the minter of civil aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia held a meeting with airline executives and asked them to self-monitor ticket prices.
The Ministry of civil aviation’s (MoCA) detailed statement on ticket prices came as airlines continue to charge exorbitant fares from passengers, especially after the grounding of Go Firs on May 3.
Giving details about airfares on 10 sectors, MoCA noted that a single ticket price booked on Tuesday for Wednesday from Leh to Delhi has come to Rs 14,133 from Rs 21,050 (checked on June 5 for June 6 boarding). Similarly, Delhi-Pune airfares have come down by 32%, Delhi-Leh by 28% and Delhi-Ahmadabad by 28%.
However, 1-day advance airfare between Mumbai and Delhi has seen a rise of 29%, as per the ministry’s statement. As per data available at ticket booking portals, despite the price cut in a week, airfares on these routes are a few times higher than some months back.
A recent study conducted by the Airports Council International (ACI) on 36,000 routes in top 10 aviation markets in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East revealed India has seen the highest spike in international airfares in the Asia-Pacific.
India saw airfare rise of 41% while UAE’s airfare surged by 34%, Singapore (30%) and Australia (23%). The fare comparison in the study was done for a period between the fourth quarter of 2022 and pre-COVID months of 2019.
Giving reason for rise in airfare, MoCA said that airfares internationally have remained firm on account of various factors like opening of markets after COVID pandemic and the resultant surge in demand, rise in ATF prices globally, supply chain disruptions on account of both COVID and Ukraine-Russia conflict etc.
“In a de-regulated environment, introducing fare caps on various sectors will lead to market distortion. The benefits of market competition will not be available to passengers at large,” it said.