New Delhi: The government on Saturday allowed domestic airlines to operate at 85 per cent of their pre-COVID capacity from 72.5 per cent earlier and said that fare band will be applicable only for 15 days and the airlines are not required to stick to the fare band for the remaining 15 days of the month, according to an official order.
"After the review of the current status of scheduled domestic operations viz-a-viz passenger demand for air travel in terms of the purpose specified in previous order 01/2020 dated 21.05.2020..., is further modified as under: 72.5% capacity may be read as 85% capacity," the Ministry of Civil Aviation order dated September 18 stated. "This order shall take effect from the date of issue of this order and shall be applicable until further order," it added.
"The minimum and maximum fare chargeable shall continue to be rolled over for the 15 days cycle as per the illustration given below or until further order, whichever is earlier," stated another order undersigned by Civil Aviation Joint Secretary, Satyendra Kumar Mishra.
Giving an example, the order further stated, "If the current date is 20 September, then the fare bands shall be applicable till 4 October. Any booking done on 20th September for travel on or after 5 October shall not be controlled by fare bands. On the following day, that is if the current date is 21st September then the fare bands shall be in force till 5th October and for travel on or after 6th October, the fare bands shall not be applicable. So, the fare bands will shift by a day every day."
On 13 August, government had hiked both the minimum and maximum limit on airfare by 12.5 per cent. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has capped the domestic airfares since May 2020 when flight operations resumed after a gap of two months due to the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic. The price capping was put on airlines to keep ticket prices in check due to the limited number of flights.
Government sources said that the decision has been taken after a review of the current status of domestic flights operations as compared to the demand for air travel. And, the order to allow airlines to not to stick to the fare band for the remaining 15 days of the month will help in reviving demand. According to the latest data from Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), over 6.7 million passengers took to the skies in August, compared to 5.01 million in July.
During August, IndiGo ferried 3.82 million passengers, Air India ferried 0.89 million passengers, SpiceJet ferried 0.58 million passengers while Vistara and AirAsia India ferried 0.56 million and 0.35 million passengers.
