Scindia replies to Congress MP, says 'Aviation ministry trying to reduce impact of airfare hike'

The Civil Aviation Ministry is in constant touch with other union ministries to explore ways to ease the adverse impact of airfare hike in Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices. Writes ETV Bharat's Gautam Debroy.

New Delhi: The Civil Aviation Ministry is in constant touch with other union ministries to explore ways to ease the adverse impact of airfare hike in Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices. "The Ministry of Civil Aviation is making concerted efforts in consultation with the other ministries to ease the adverse impact of hike in ATF prices on the civil aviation sector," said Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia.

In a letter written to Congress MP from Kerala, Jebi Mather, Scindia said that the current increase in airfare is attributable to a number of factors like July, and August months are holiday seasons. He said that during this period of the Eid festival and school holidays in Gulf countries, there is more demand for air travel. "Due to unprecedented global geopolitical situation, the ATF prices have increased by about four times from Rs 32,424/KL in April 2020 to Rs 1,31,354/KL during June 2022. Currently, about 50 percent of operational cost is on account of fuel prices," said Scindia.

He informed that there has been capacity reduction mainly at Thiruvananthapuram and Calicut airports where operations have reduced by about 19 percent and 4 percent respectively as compared to the pre-Covid period.

Earlier, in a letter to the Civil Aviation Minister, Mather informed that the airline companies usually increase fares around this time (July-August) because schools in UAE close for summer vacations in July when the Pravasis make their annual trip to India and it is the time of Bakrid as well. "It is unfortunate to point out that the airline companies have been taking advantage of such a situation," Mather said.

She said that the airfare from Gulf countries to Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Calicut, Kannur, and Chennai in July has skyrocketed and it derails the travel budget of the passengers who wish to visit their native places. Scindia in his reply said that he has had the matter examined. "All ticket prices generally vary depending upon the market forces including the difference in demand and supply arising due to various factors like holiday seasons, festivals, weekends, etc," Scindia said.