The Minister further stated that the government can interfere and cap the airfares only under “extraordinary circumstances”.
Photo: ANI
Amid IndiGo flight cancellations, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Friday said airfares can’t be capped for an entire year as they rise only for a specific season on specific routes.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha after a member introduced a resolution on “appropriate measures to regulate airfare in the country”, the Minister said market demand and supply naturally regulate airfares on their own.
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“When do you observe this airfares rise? It is not that they are rising everyday. When these festive seasons are there, when there is specific demand that originates in this location for most people to travel, like Kerala during Onam. There is a specific season and specific routes in which the airfares are rising because of the demands that originate… These are all specific seasons, it is not that I can cap fares for an entire year to a certain sector,” he told the House.
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During the peak IndiGo meltdown last week, several domestic airlines increased their airfare many fold, prompting the Ministry to issue an order regulating the charges.
As per the order dated December 6, the airlines cannot charge more than Rs 7,500 for flights up to 500 km and Rs 15,000 for distance between 1,000 km and 1,500 km. The airfare for flights above 1,500 km was capped at Rs 18,000.
The Minister further stated that the government can interfere and cap the airfares only under “extraordinary circumstances”.
Amid criticism of the Government over monopoly and duopoly in India’s aviation sector, the minister said that the government will keep it deregulated for growth and allow more players to come in.
“We have seen that multiple airlines have come in and multiple challenges for airlines. But the idea still remains that if the civil aviation and aviation sector, if it needs to grow, the first and foremost thing is to keep it deregulated, so that the competition survives and more players can come in,” he said.
Naidu said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan of ‘Hawai chappal se hawai jahaz’ proved right with the way members have raised the issue.
“Unless it is connected to the masses of the country, you don’t see that kind of emotion being spoken from members on both sides. So, that is an example of how deeply and inclusively under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, civil aviation is connected in the country,” he added
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