Can only request airlines to keep fares low: Minister

The central government on Monday said it can only request airlines to keep a check on high fares during emergencies like the ongoing Jat agitation in Haryana.

The Jat community's quota agitation has crippled rail and road transport to and from the national capital to Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan.

According to Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Tourism Mahesh Sharma, the government can only request airlines to keep fares in check. Currently, ticket prices are unregulated in India.

"Globally air fares are not regulated, we can only request and suggest to airlines to keep fares low in a situation like this," Sharma told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event here.

The minister elaborated that the government has instructed airlines to deploy additional capacity on the effected routes to keep fares in check.

"The ministry has contacted all airlines and requested them to increase the number of flights," the minister pointed out at the launch function of "Swachh Paryatan Mobile App" held here.

On Sunday, the Civil Aviation Ministry had organised additional flights to deal with the road and rail blockades in Haryana.

The ministry had instructed the national carrier Air India to operate an additional flight on the Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar-Delhi route on Sunday evening.

Further, other airlines such as SpiceJet, Jet Airways and IndiGo announced that they have added additional flights on routes such as Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Amritsar and Delhi-Jaipur.