Fixed fares likely for flights to underserved places

By Mihir Mishra
NEW DELHI: Want to fly from Delhi to Port Blair in an emergency? It could cost you as much as Rs40,000 for a one-way ticket in peak season, although right now it’s about onefourth that price. Tickets to Guwahati and Srinagar that need to be bought in a rush can cost Rs20,000, whereas those bought in advance are much cheaper.

While this differential applies on all sectors, it’s much wider for regions underserved in terms of air connectivity and has long been a sore point with those who live there. Now, the government is planning to ensure they don’t need to pay exorbitant amounts for tickets. However, the flip side of any plan for fixed fares is that there won’t be any discounts for advance purchases.

The civil aviation ministry has been discussing such a proposal after people and officials from these areas complained to minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati about excessive last-minute fares that they had to pay.

“The idea is to fix fares on flights to these areas so that neither people booking last minute are pinched nor do the airlines make a loss on these routes,” said a senior ministry official who didn’t want to be named.

“The minister had a few internal meetings on the issue and it has been decided to hold proper consultations with all stakeholders concerned to decide on a fixed fare for these routes.” The destinations that are being looked at include Srinagar, Port Blair and airports in the Northeast.

Such a move would mean that airlines won’t offer tickets under the bucket system to these destinations and there will be no lower fares available for people who book in advance. If the measure goes through, it will be the first such intervention by the government on the fare front. But analysts feel such a move would be a difficult to implement.

“I welcome any outcome-based government consultations with industry on key issues but do not see any intervention on fares, direct or indirect, feasible,” said Kapil Kaul, chief executive officer of Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, an aviation consultancy firm.

Officials in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the sector regulator, said however that it may be possible to implement such a measure. The government could manage it through consultations without even changing the rules, they said. “AirAsia India, during its launch flights, was not offering any free check-in baggage. We consulted them on the issue and the airline is now offering the same,” said one of the officials.