Airlines' 8% fare hike comes a cropper as Indians refuse to pay more to fly

Data shows the fare growth led to a decline in passenger numbers even on prime metro routes

In October, worried over the red marks in airline balance sheets, top officials of the government summoned airline bosses. Junk the price war and make some money, was the advice given. It was a rare demand from the government, which has portrayed exponential growth in air passengers as an achievement.

“Excessive competition has led to decline in tariffs (rates), affecting GST (goods and services tax) collections from the telecom and airline industries,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a recent interview. 

The airlines did try. Faced with fuel