The price of flight tickets in India is set to rise as the civil aviation ministry has increased the lower and upper limits on domestic airfares by 10 to 30%. This cap will stay in effect till 31 March.
For anyone who doesn’t know what an upper limit and lower limit on flight tickets is; need to understand it this way.
Back in May, when the GOI resumed domestic flights in India, it had announced an upper limit to ensure the airline doesn’t overcharge the passengers. Also, the lower limit was imposed to prevent tariff wars among airlines on certain routes.
Thereafter, the flights between cities that are under 40 minutes were classified under section one. Then those under 40-60 minutes under section two. Section three consists of destinations 60-90 minutes apart by flight, section four comprises cities 90-120 minutes apart, section five consists of cities 120-150 minutes apart. Those between 150-180 minutes and 180-210 minutes have been classified under sections 6 and 7, respectively.
Now, the fresh lower and upper limit on the aforementioned bands are: ₹2,800 – ₹9,800 for section one; ₹3,300 – ₹11,700 for section two; ₹3,900 – ₹13,000 section three; ₹5,000 – ₹16,900 section four; ₹6,100 – ₹20,400 section five; ₹7,200 – ₹24,200 section six, respectively.
Also, the current cap on the number of domestic flights that an Indian Airline can operate will remain at 80% of their pre-COVID levels. This, again, is till 31 March and after that, new guidelines will be chalked.
“As per the prevailing situation of COVID-19, the central government…directs the order dated 3 December, 2020, shall remain in force till 2359 hrs on 31 March, 2021 or till the date of commencement of summer schedule 2021, whichever is earlier or until further orders,” the ministry’s order said.
