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Airfares dip by 25 pc after DGCA cracks the whip

TAILING DOWN

A ticket on Delhi-Mumbai sector now costs Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000 in economy class; down from Rs 17,000 two weeks ago

DGCA to meet representatives Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher today

Ticket prices yet to return to the levels that prevailed during the same period last year

New Delhi, December 5
Domestic airlines have lowered overall airfares 20-25 per cent after the Civil Aviation Ministry and the DGCA cracked the whip on them for charging very exorbitant prices in the last few weeks. However, ticket prices are yet to return to the average levels that prevailed during the same period last year.

Overall airfares on several sectors have come down in the past week, official sources said, adding that the ‘pressure’ mounted by the Civil Aviation Ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) against exorbitant airfares had been a success. The fare hike had also led to a public outcry.

The DGCA and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had, in the last few days, warned of action if the errant airlines did not roll back the abrupt hike in air fares.

Airfares, especially last-minute or spot tickets, had sky-rocketed even during the non-peak season.

The fare range on Delhi-Mumbai sector now was Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000 on economy class ticket, while that on Delhi-Chennai and Delhi-Kolkata it stood between Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000, officials said.

Two weeks ago, the lowest last-minute Delhi-Mumbai fare was about Rs 17,000, even though holiday travel season had not begun.

The lowest available fares at the same time last year was about Rs 3,000 for Delhi-Mumbai and Rs 4,000 for the Delhi-Chennai and Delhi-Kolkata sectors, they said.

The DGCA, headed by the E K Bharat Bhushan, and his predecessor SNA Zaidi, now the Civil Aviation Secretary, have held deliberations with airline representatives over the last two weeks. DGCA had a formal meeting with officials of the no-frill carriers - IndiGo, Spicejet and GoAir, yesterday following a directive asking all carriers to explain the high fares. Tomorrow, the DGCA would meet representatives of full-service carriers - Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher.

The officials, requesting anonymity, said the last minute fares between Delhi and Cochin ranged between Rs 8,000 and Rs 12,000, while that between Delhi and Coimbatore stood at an average of Rs 7,000.

Airfare on the high-demand sector like Delhi-Leh stood at less than Rs 4,500 while those from the national capital to Kullu, Shimla and Dehradun ranged between Rs 6,000 and Rs 9,000. Rebutting Kingfisher chief Vijay Mallya’s statement that government should not regulate airfares, they said the basic intention of the government was to bring in more transparency in the fixing of fares by airlines.