PM concerned over spiralling airfares during festive season

The skyrocketing airfare during festive season has attracted the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who asked civil aviation ministry to look into the issue.

The ministry is at present looking at options to curb such instances, which is a constant complaint by customers. Ministry sources said the prime minister expressed his concern over the issue and has asked officials to find a way to handle the issue.

Modi’s attention was drawn to the issue when he received representations from Indians during his recent visit to the Gulf regarding airlines hiking fares from the Gulf to Kerala during Onam and Eid when expatriates come to the state.

Officials said the ministry is looking at various options to address the issue.
However, they were of the view that regulating airfare may not be the solution.
“High airfares are a cause for concern. We will try to address the problem both in international and domestic routes,” a senior official said.

One of the options would be to encourage the use of unutilised bilateral rights with other countries as it would result in increased availability of seats, which in turn can help reduce the airfares.

During a meeting with civil aviation ministry last month, Modi had raised concern over complaints of predatory pricing by airlines.

Several MPs have also raised the same issue inside and outside the House.Though there are complaints of predatory pricing, an analysis by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had shown that most of the tickets sold by airlines are “not exorbitantly priced”.