New Delhi: Air travel will cost more for Indians now as the Civil Aviation Ministry on Thursday increased the lower and upper limits on domestic airfares by 10 to 30 percent. ALSO READ | Rahul Gandhi Uses 'Hum Do Humare Do' Jibe At Centre Over Agri Laws, Says Nation Being Run By 4 People
When scheduled domestic flights were resumed on May 21 last year after Covid induced ban, the ministry had capped airfares through seven bands classified on the basis of flight duration.
The new price capping would remain "in force up to March 31, 2021, or until further orders", the ministry said its order on Thursday.
The first such band consists of flights that are of less than 40 minutes duration and the lower limit for the first band has been from Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,200. The upper limit in this band was set at Rs 7,800, which was earlier Rs 6,000.
The subsequent bands for flights with durations are divided in 40-60 minutes, 60-90 minutes, 90-120 minutes, 120-150 minutes, 150-180 minutes and 180-210 minutes. The fresh lower and upper limits set by the ministry are: Rs 2,800 - Rs 9,800; Rs 3,300 Rs 11,700; Rs 3,900 Rs 13,000; Rs 5,000 Rs 16,900; Rs 6,100 Rs 20,400; Rs 7,200 Rs 24,200, respectively.
The previous lower and upper limits for these bands were: Rs 2,500 - Rs 7,500; Rs 3,000 - Rs 9,000; Rs 3,500 - Rs 10,000; Rs 4,500 - Rs 13,000; Rs 5,500 - Rs 15,700 and Rs 6,500 - Rs 18,600, respectively.
This comes a day after Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said that the price bands are expected to be discontinued when flight services reach pre-Covid levels.
Responding to questions in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri revealed that the decision to raise beyond 80 percent capacity will be taken based on the behaviour of the virus and "our sense" of comfort with air travel having all the SOPs, he added.
"It is not our intention - it also cannot be in an open, deregulated market situation--to have the fare bands made a permanent feature. So, it is our expectation that when flights open up to pre-Covid levels in this summer schedule, we would not have the need for a price band," the minister said.
Once air travel opens to greater capacity, it was informed that centre can encourage airlines to neither sell tickets at a rock bottom price nor at hefty rates.
The domestic scheduled operations at present are opened up to 80 percent of the Summer Schedule 2020.
Opening up of the domestic scheduled operations and relaxation in fare capping will now essentially rely on Covid-19 situation in country, status of operations and passenger demand for air travel.
(With Agency Inputs)