India / Domestic flights to get costlier as govt raises limits on airfares by up to 13%

New Delhi: The Civil Aviation Ministry in an official order has raised the lower as well as upper caps on domestic fares by 9.83% to 12.82%.

The Civil Aviation Ministry in order on Thursday increased the lower limit for flights under 40 minutes of duration from ₹2,600 to ₹2,900 -- an increase of 11.53%. It has also increased the upper cap for flights under 40 minutes of duration was increased by 12.82 percent to ₹8,800.

The government first imposed the lower and upper limits on 25 May last year after the resumption of flights post-two-month nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19

The lower caps were imposed to help the airlines that have been struggling financially due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions. The upper caps were imposed so that passengers are not charged huge amounts when the demand for seats is high.

Similarly, flights with duration between 40-60 minutes have a lower limit of ₹3,700 instead of ₹3,300 now, the order said. The upper cap on these flights was increased by 12.24 percent to ₹11,000 on Thursday.

The flights with duration between 60-90 minutes have a lower limit of ₹4,500 -- an increase of 12.5 percent. The upper cap on these flights was increased by 12.82 percent to ₹13,200 on Thursday.

Now, domestic flights of duration between 90-120, 120-150, 150-180 and 180-210 minutes have lower caps of ₹ ₹5,300, ₹6,700, ₹8,300 and ₹9,800, respectively, as per the ministry's order.

Till date, domestic flights of duration between 90-120, 120-150, 150-180 and 180-210 minutes had the lower limits of ₹4,700, ₹6,100, ₹7,400 and ₹8,700, respectively.

The lower cap on flights between 120-150 minutes duration was increased by 9.83 percent to ₹6,700, as per the new order.

On Thursday, the upper caps on domestic flights of duration between 90-120, 120-150, 150-180 and 180-210 minutes were increased by 12.3 percent, 12.42 percent, 12.74 percent and 12.39 percent, respectively, as per the order.

The caps mentioned by the government in its order does not include the passenger security fee, user development fee for the airports and the GST. These charges are added on top when the ticket is being booked by the passenger.

The ministry's order on Thursday stated that the government has taken this decision of increasing the lower limits as well as the upper limits keeping in mind the "prevailing situation of COVID-19" in the country.