DGCA raises the Domestic Airfares

February 12, 2021

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has announced an increase in the fares of air travel on February 11, 2021. The fare has been increased up to Rs 5,600.

Highlights

The government highlighted that the fare hike was necessitated because of the opening of the aviation market.
While, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said that the fare hike was a routine change.
However, the aviation experts are saying the price has been increased due to increase in prices of fuel.

Price Band

Upper price band has been increased by 30 percent on 180–210-minute flights. This amount to an increase in price by Rs 5,600. Thus, the price has been increased from Rs 18,600 to Rs 24,200.
Lower band of the price for the shortest route has been increased by 10 percent. This amount to an increase by Rs 200.
The domestic fare band has also been increased. The lower price band of the domestic flights has been increased from Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,200 while the upper price band has been increased from Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,800.
For the highest fare band, the minimum fare has been increased from Rs 6500 to Rs 24200 while the maximum fares have been increased from Rs 18,600 to Rs 24,200.

Background

The ministry of civil aviation had imposed a fixed cap on air travel when the Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak. This price cap has now been removed because the market has now opened up. The government had suspended all the commercial passenger flights in March 2020 because the government had announced a strict nationwide lockdown in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Now, the government has allowed to resume the running of the domestic flights across the country.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)

It is the statutory body formed through the Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020. The body investigates the aviation accidents and incidents. It also maintains all the aviation related regulations. The body is headquartered in New Delhi.

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