65% of passengers want cap on airfares, says LocalCircles survey

Sixty-five per cent of surveyed passengers want the civil aviation ministry to reintroduce a cap on airfares, according to a survey carried out by LocalCircles.

The survey received 22,000 responses from consumers in 297 districts in the country. The participants were spread across tier I and II towns and rural areas.

The question on re-introduction of fare caps received 12,193 responses and 65 per cent said yes to a query on re-introduction on caps. An another 50 per cent  said that low cost airlines are charging higher airfares than the full service airlines.

The civil aviation ministry removed the caps on domestic fares from August 31 giving flexibility to airlines to levy fares. The caps were introduced in May 2020 with the restoration of domestic flights after a two-month lockdown.

The survey was carried out by LocalCircles in the wake of complaints of increase in airfares. It will also share survey findings to the civil aviation ministry.

High operating costs, capacity shortage and strong demand has pushed airfares north. Online portal Cleartrip has seen 6 per cent increase in fares for the current quarter over September.