Domestic air travel is going to get costlier as the aviation ministry has increased the lower and upper caps on fares by 9.83 to 12.82 percent. The hike in airfare came as the COVID-battered aviation industry started to expand its wings in a calibrated manner to cope up with the heavy losses it suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions on international and domestic flights.
India had imposed lower and upper limits on airfares based on flight duration when services were resumed on May 25, 2020, after a two-month lockdown due to coronavirus. However, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has also issued an order allowing domestic airlines to operate flights with a capacity of 72.5 percent from the earlier 65 percent from August 13.
The lower caps were imposed to help the airlines struggling financially due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions. The upper caps were imposed so that passengers are not charged huge amounts when the demand for seats is high.
This does not include the airport user development fee (UDF), passenger security fee, and Goods and Services Tax (GST). Currently, this order is applicable for this month. However, there is a possibility of a new directive regarding airfare capping from September 1.
Check route-wise prices of domestic flights:
Sector A routes and fare capping: The fare capping for the routes falling under Sector A, i.e., Delhi-Chandigarh, Goa-Mumbai, Mangalore-Bangalore, Srinagar-Jammu, has been increased as follows. Earlier the minimum fare under Sector A was Rs 2,600 and the maximum was Rs.7,800. According to the new fare applicable from Friday, the minimum fare has been increased to Rs 2,925 and a maximum of Rs 8,775.
Sector B routes and fare capping: The fare capping for the routes falling under Sector B i.e., Ahmedabad-Bhopal, Leh-Delhi, Hyderabad-Mumbai, Delhi-Srinagar has been increased as follows. Earlier the minimum fare under Sector B was Rs 3,300 and the maximum was Rs. 9,800. But according to the new fare, the minimum fare has been increased to Rs. 3,712.5 and the maximum to Rs 11,025.
Sector C routes and fare capping: The fare capping for routes under Sector C i.e. Bangalore-Mumbai, Kolkata-Lucknow, Patna-Delhi, Chennai-Kolkata has been increased. Earlier the minimum fare under Sector C was Rs 4,000 and the maximum was Rs 11,700. But according to the new fare, the minimum fare has been increased to Rs 4,500 and the maximum to Rs 13,162.50.
Check duration-wise prices of domestic flights:
In its order, the ministry increased the lower limit for flights under 40 minutes of duration from Rs 2,600 to Rs 2,900 — an increase of 11.53 percent. The upper cap for flights under 40 minutes of duration was increased by 12.82 percent to Rs 8,800.
Similarly, flights with a duration between 40-60 minutes have a lower limit of Rs 3,700 instead of Rs 3,300 now. However, the upper cap on these flights was increased by 12.24 percent to Rs 11,000.
The flights with a duration between 60-90 minutes have a lower limit of Rs 4,500 — an increase of 12.5 percent. The upper cap on these flights was increased by 12.82 percent to Rs 13,200.
Now, domestic flights of duration between 90-120, 120-150, 150-180 and 180-210 minutes have lower caps of Rs Rs. 5,300, Rs 6,700, Rs 8,300 and Rs 9,800, respectively.
The lower cap on flights between 120-150 minutes duration was increased by 9.83 percent to Rs. 6,700. The upper caps on domestic flights of duration between 90-120, 120-150, 150-180, and 180-210 minutes were increased by 12.3 percent, 12.42 percent, 12.74 percent, and 12.39 percent, respectively, as per the order.
