Govt wants airlines to keep airfares moderate after Go first exit

Official says no govt plan to regulate airfares; aviation minister says DGCA awaiting Go First's plan on resumption of flights

The Aviation Ministry has suggested airlines keep airfares at a moderate level as it has observed that ticket prices on certain routes are rapidly rising after Go First's exit, a senior official has stated.

Go First stopped operating flights from May 3 onwards. The top five routes of the airline, which was operating about 200 flights per day in April, were Delhi-Srinagar, Delhi-Leh, Mumbai-Goa, Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Pune. On such routes, the ministry has observed that the spot airfares have rapidly risen after Go First's exit.

The official observed that the airlines have been advised to increase flights but they are unable to do much because of paucity of fresh capacity (new planes). Go First has squarely blamed Pratt & Whitney (PW) for the cash crunch, stating that it did not supply engines on time, due to which almost half of its 54 aircraft fleet is grounded. Not just Go First, even IndiGo is suffering due to this issue.

IndiGo's 37 planes, powered by PW engines, are currently grounded. IndiGo, India's largest airline, has about 140 PW-powered planes in its fleet.

The senior official said that on routes where Go First was a major player, the ministry has advised the airlines to make sure that the upper ceiling for price tickets is not too high. "There should not be a huge gap between the upper ceiling and lower ceiling. The airfares should remain moderate" the official added.

The official made it clear that the government has no plan to regulate airfares. The May-June period is considered a peak period for the airlines as a significant number of people go for leisure trips amid summer vacations in schools.

Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday said the government has told PW to supply engines so that the grounded planes of Indian carriers are “up and running”,

“We cannot have multiple planes of one engine manufacturer on the ground in India, which is the case today, unfortunately,” Scindia told reporters after an event of industry body FICCI.

The minister said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was awaiting Go First’s plan on resumption of flights.

“We have very clearly said that we want a resumption of flights (by Go First) as soon as possible. They have to submit their plan to the DGCA. This plan will cover the number of planes and the number of routes. On the basis of this plan, the DGCA will decide how to take it forward,” he added.