Aviation Ministry Extends Fare Cap On Domestic Flights Till March 31

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Friday in an order extends the cap on domestic airfare till 31st March 2021.

MoCA had enforced the fare cap on airfare in economy class for domestic flights on May 21, 2020, in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

The aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had imposed a cap on domestic airfares with both an upper and lower limit.

Domestic flights with less than 40-minute duration to have lower and upper limits of ₹2,000 and ₹6,000, for 40-60 minutes ₹2,500 and ₹7,500, for 60-90 minutes ₹3,000 and ₹9,000, for 90-120 minutes ₹3,500 and ₹10,000, for 120-150 minutes ₹4,500 and ₹13,000 and for 150-180 minutes ₹5,500 and ₹15,700.

As per the latest orders of MoCA, domestic airlines will need to sell at least 20% tickets of a particular flight below the middle price point of the airfare bands issued for flights of various durations.

The aviation ministry on 05th November said that the fare cap on domestic flights will continue till 24th February 2021 which was later extended.

India resumed domestic flight operation on 25th May 2020 after a two-months amid the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.

“Domestic civil aviation operations continue to hold steady & move towards Pre-COVID numbers. 2,21,340 passengers traveled on 2172 flights on 7 Jan 2021. Our airports witnessed total footfalls of 4,40,871 & 4334 flight movements,” Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in a tweet.

Around 30K passengers flew when we restarted domestic operations on 25th May.

Yesterday, 2,23,932 passengers flew on 2198 flights. This shows that aviation has emerged as the most reliable mode of transport.

✈️ Total flight movements 4404
✈️ Total footfalls at airports 4,51,941 pic.twitter.com/q9oL2ClAtK

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) January 7, 2021

India has extended the ban on scheduled international passenger flights till January 31. However, India will continue to operate special flights that have been under the government’s repatriation exercise ‘Vande Bharat Mission‘ since May and under bilateral air bubble arrangements formed between India and other countries since July.

Also Read: IndiGo To Resume Direct Flight Between Kolkata And Shillong From February 1