Airfare hike: Festival season has already begun. With Diwali around the corner, many people are planning to go on vacation. However, they fear a possible airfare hike during the festival season, as rising demand may result in a significant surge in flight ticket prices. There have also been reports of a potential airfare hike this Diwali. Keeping this in mind, the government has issued a directive to airlines. Read this carefully before you book flights.
Government issues a directive for Airlines
Civil aviation minister K Rammohan Naidu on Friday directed airlines to maintain reasonable prices on their flight tickets during the upcoming festive season. This directive was issued after he met with officials from Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, Akasa Air, Alliance Air, Fly91, FlyBig, and IndiaOne Air. PTI cited an official release which was issued after the discussion lasted over five hours. The discussion covered operational and technical performance, passenger grievances, and security incidents.
What Civil Aviation Ministry said to Airlines
With Diwali approaching, there are worries that airfares may rise because more people will be traveling. Civil Aviation Minister Naidu told airlines to keep ticket prices under control. He said fares should stay reasonable on all routes so that passengers are not affected by sudden price increases during the festival season.
Upgraded AirSewa portal- You can register complaints on airfare
To further curb airfare surges, the Civil Aviation Ministry improved its AirSewa portal so passengers can file complaints about high ticket prices. Minister Naidu also instructed the DGCA’s Tariff Monitoring Unit to check that airlines follow the declared fare limits.
“Airlines assured that passenger convenience will remain their top priority and informed that additional flight capacities have been deployed on high-traffic routes to meet festive demand,” the release said.
What Airlines are asked to do
Apart from keeping Airline ticket prices under control, they were also asked to resolve passenger grievances promptly and effectively. Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha, DGCA DG Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, and other senior ministry officials attended the meeting.
