govt removes airfare limit

The Indian government on Wednesday announced that the airfare caps imposed on the domestic airlines will be removed by August 31, 2022. According to the circular issued by the Union Civil Aviation Ministry, the decision has been taken after 27 months since the price limits came into effect after the hard lockdown of 2020.

This is a great news for the flyers. This is because now, the airlines can offer the air tickets at minimum cost without taking into consideration the airfare cap. Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia took to Twitter to make the official announcement. Talking about the current state of aviation sector in India, Scindia also mentioned the consistently lower cost of ATF.

“The decision to remove air fare caps has been taken after careful analysis of daily demand and prices of air turbine fuel (ATF). Stabilisation has set in and we are certain that the sector is poised for growth in domestic traffic in the near future,” the Aviation Minister said on Twitter.

The ministry had imposed lower and upper limits on domestic airfares based on flight durations when services were resumed on May 25, 2020 after a two-month lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday, the Civil Aviation Ministry stated in an order: “After review of the current status of scheduled domestic operations viz-a-viz passenger demand for air travel…it has been decided to remove the fare bands notified from time to time regarding the airfares with effect from August 31, 2022.” The airlines and airport operators must, however, ensure that the guidelines to contain the spread of COVID-19 are strictly adhered to and COVID-appropriate behaviour is strictly enforced by them during travel, it added.