The airfare cap on Domestic Flights will be extended after August 24, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on 16 July.
Expect a short extension of flight restrictions beyond August 24 as demand is still subdued, the Minister of Civil Aviation said in a press conference today.
Following the outbreak of the COVID-19, the Department of Aviation had put a cap on domestic flights in May.
India started operating domestic flights after a gap of two months in the last week of Ma.
The domestic flights in India have a cap on fares with both an upper and lower limit.
While the upper price limit aims to prevent a sharp rise in tariffs due to pent-up demand, the lower limit will help ensure that airlines’ financial viability does not suffer from the high costs, Puri said earlier.
- Flights between cities that last less than 40 minutes were classified in Section 1
- Flights between 40 and 60 minutes in Section 2.
- Section three consists of destinations that are 60 to 90 minutes apart in flight
- Section 4 consists of cities, that are 90 to 120 minutes apart,
- Section 5 consists of cities that are 120 to 150 minutes apart.
Destinations between 150-180 minutes and 180-210 minutes were classified into sections 6 and 7, respectively.
The minimum base flight price for domestic flights is between ₹2,000 and ₹6,500 and the maximum price is between ₹6,000 and ₹18,600.
Airlines have to offer 40% of all seats in an aircraft at a price that is below the average between the highest and the lowest tariff, Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said earlier.
Puri explained the mechanism and previously said that the move will mean that the lowest fare between Delhi and Mumbai, the country’s busiest route, will be limited to ₹3,500 and at the top end to ₹10,000.
On resuming international flight operations, the Minister of Civil Aviation said: “We are at a very advanced stage between negotiations with at least three countries on a bilateral bubble.”
“Till international civil aviation can reclaim its pre-COVID numbers, I think answer will lie through bilateral air bubbles, which will carry a possible number of people but under defined conditions as countries are still imposing entry restrictions including India,” Puri said.
“Air France will be flying 28 flights between Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Paris between 18 July to 1 August while US will be flying 18 flights between July 17-31, but this is an interim one,” Puri added.
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