The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) India on Tuesday issues an advisory for air travelers and asks them to check the airfare preferably from the airline’s website before booking their tickets.
The advisory comes after the aviation regular received a lot of complaints of a surge in fares in economy class, specially on the India-UK sector.
DGCA Advisory To Air Travelers
“Passengers travelling to international destinations are requested to check the fare preferably from the website of the concerned airline as the metasearch engines at times do not reflect the actual point to point fare and do make combinations of multiple airlines and end up with an exaggerated figure,” Said DGCA in its advisory.
It must be noted that this matter came to light after Sanjeev Gupta, secretary, interstate council secretariat, union home ministry, on Saturday tweeted that an economy-class ticket on British Airways’s Delhi-London flight for August 26 was priced at ₹3.95 lakh.
He further said that economy-class ticket on Delhi-London flights of Vistara and Air India for August 26 was also priced between ₹1.2 lakh and ₹2.3 lakh.
Gupta also said that he “alerted” union civil aviation secretary PS Kharola about this matter.
Steep Rise In India-UK Airfares
“Fare of ₹ 3.95 lakh one-way Delhi to London on Aug 26. No, it’s not 1st class. It’s economy on @British_Airways @airindiain @airvistara etc. also 1.2 to 2.3 lakh. College admission time! See minimum fare on @GoogleTravel in August. Have alerted Secretary @MoCA_GoI @JM_Scindia,” said Sanjeev Gupta in his initial tweet.
Fare of ₹ 3.95 lakh one way Delhi to London on Aug 26. No, it’s not 1st class. It’s economy on @British_Airways. @airindiain @airvistara etc. also 1.2 to 2.3 lakh. College admission time! See minimum fare on @GoogleTravel in August. Have alerted Secretary @MoCA_GoI. @JM_Scindia pic.twitter.com/uxFF8dgaLk
— Sanjeev Gupta (@sanjg2k1) August 7, 2021Advertisement
Aviation Ministry Addressing The Issue
It must be noted that there has been an outcry over steep airfares on India-UK routes. Addressing this issue, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India tweeted:
“There are media reports claiming India-UK one-way economy class fares have touched Rs. 4 lakhs. These reports have no proven basis. The veracity of Sh Sanjeev Gupta’s claim has been thoroughly checked by the DGCA”
The aviation ministry further said that the fares offered on the Delhi-London sector (Economy class) range from 1.03-1.21 lakhs for Indian carriers and 1.28-1.47 lakhs for UK carriers for travel during August 2021.
The fares offered on the Delhi-London sector (Economy class) range from 1.03-1.21 lakhs for Indian carriers and 1.28-1.47 lakhs for UK carriers for travel during August 2021.
— MoCA_GoI (@MoCA_GoI) August 8, 2021Advertisement
It is important to mention that there have been lower and upper limits on all domestic airfares in India since May 25 last year, no such limits have been imposed on international airfares.
Vistara, which currently operates flights on Delhi-London as wells Mumbai-London route, said on Sunday:
“Pricing is always a function of supply and demand. There are only 15 flights a week allowed currently on India – UK route for Indian carriers and when there is relaxation and more capacity allowed, it will automatically bring down prices.”
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