When fares rise steeply, govt sensitises airlines for 'necessary intervention': Puri

Airfares are neither established nor regulated by the government but in case there is a steep rise in ticket prices, then airlines are sensitised for "necessary intervention", Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday.

The minister's comments in the Lok Sabha came in response to queries on whether the government is aware that airlines are charging exorbitant ticket rates during the peak season and any proposal to fix a maximum price for each destination.

Noting that airfares are neither established nor regulated by the government, the Minister of State for Civil Aviation said prices are fixed by airlines keeping in mind the market, demand, seasonality and other factors.

"The fare structures are displayed by airlines on their websites. The airlines remain compliant to the prevailing regulation as long as airfares charged by them are in line with fare displayed on their websites," he said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Aviation regulator DGCA monitors airfares on certain routes on a random basis.

"The fare monitoring analysis carried out by DGCA in the recent past has shown that airfares remained well within the fare bucket uploaded by the airlines on their respective websites.

"In case, any steep fare hike is observed, Ministry of Civil Aviation / DGCA sensitises the airlines for necessary intervention," Puri noted.

When asked by another member whether the government is aware about high fares being charged in Gulf-Kerala sector in holiday season, Puri said the suspension of operations by Jet Airways and grounding of Boeing 737 MAX planes constrained the supply side.

"As per the data received from the airlines, there was a small hike in the average fares on some sectors from Kerala to Gulf during the holiday season in May and June, 2019," he noted.

In a separate written reply, the minister said a pre-feasibility study has been carried out by multi-disciplinary team of AAI for development of Kargil Airport for civil operations suitable to operate Airbus 320 type of aircraft.

"AAI has also taken up the matter with International Civil Aviation Organisation to further explore the feasibility of aircraft such as B-737 operations to Kargil Airport," he added.

Further, the minister said a pre-feasibility study has been carried out by AAI for development of Thoise airport under RCS (Regional Connectivity Scheme) operations.

During the last three years, AAI has spent Rs 8,855.82 crore on development work and other associated works at various airports.

"AAI has earmarked a fund of Rs 54 crore in the Budget year 2019-20 for development of Darbhanga airport," the minister said in another written reply.