Limits on air fares set in seven bands as per flight durations: Puri

The minister said "We have divided routes in seven sections for fare control; first section is where flight duration is less than 40 mins. For fare control second section of domestic aircraft route is where flight duration is between 40-60 min, rest all are between 60-210 min."

New Delhi:Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said that a minimum and maximum fare for three months has been set for the domestic flight services, which resume from May 25.

"We have set a minimum and a maximum fare. In the case of Delhi, Mumbai the minimum fare would be Rs 3,500 for a journey between 90-120 minutes. The maximum fare would be Rs 10,000. This is operative for three months -- till one minute to midnight on August 24," said Puri at a press conference here.

The minister also said "We have divided routes in seven sections for fare control; first section is where flight duration is less than 40 mins. For fare control second section of domestic aircraft route is where flight duration is between 40-60 min, rest all are between 60-210 min."

Sections	Flight routes	Minimum Fare (Rs)	Maximum Fare (Rs)
1	Flight time less than 40 minutes	2,000	6,000
2	40 - 60 minutes	2,500	7,500
3	60 - 90 minutes	3,000	9,000
4	90 - 120 minutes	3,500	10,000
5	120 - 150 minutes	4,500	13,000
6	150 - 180 minutes	5,500	15,700
7	180 - 210 minutes	6,500	18,600

40 per cent of seats have to be sold at a fare less than the midpoint of the band. For example, midpoint of Rs 3,500 & Rs 10,000 is Rs 6,700. So 40% of the seats have to be sold at a price less than Rs 6,700. This is how we are ensuring that fares don't go out of control, said Aviation Secretary P S Kharola.

Notably, the capping is applicable only to base fares. Taxes, such as user development fee, GST (Goods and Services Tax) will be charged additionally.

The minister said he can't comment right now on when flight operations would be restored completely.

If a passenger does not have the Aarogya Setu app on her or his phone for some reason, she or he can give a self-declaration form, the minister said, adding that such a passenger will not be stopped from boarding the flight.

The minister added that private carriers will join the Vande Bharat mission to repatriate Indians stranded abroad amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier this week, Puri had said that domestic flight operations will resume from May 25, noting that all airlines and airports were ready.

Puri said that guidelines have been issued for the passengers and airports, which are to be followed during flight operations.

Stating the rules for different routes for the carriers, the Minister said:

"For operations from the metro to non-metro cities and vice-versa, where the weekly departure is less than 100, airlines are free to operate any routes of one-third capacity of approved summer schedule 2020. For all other cities, airlines are free to use one-third capacity of approved summer schedule 2020."

The minister said that some tweaking of procedures, based on the experience garnered from domestic flight operations, will be needed to be studied before thinking of starting international flights.

DGCA issues fare bands for air travel, min ticket price 2000 max 18600

Hours after Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced a cap on domestic airfare, aviation regulator DGCA issued seven bands of ticket pricing with lower and upper fare limits.

The first such band will consist of flights that are of less than 40 minutes duration.

A DGCA order said the that the lower and the upper fare limits for the first band is Rs 2,000 and Rs 6,000, respectively.

The subsequent bands would be for flights with durations of 40-60 minutes, 60-90 minutes, 90-120 minutes, 120-150 minutes, 150-180 minutes and 180-210 minutes.

The lower and upper limits for these bands are: Rs 2,500-Rs 7,500; Rs 3,000-Rs 9,000; Rs 3,500-Rs 10,000; Rs 4,500-Rs 13,000; Rs 5,500-Rs 15,700 and Rs 6,500-Rs 18,600, respectively, the DGCA said.

(With ANI inputs)