Put up fares by routes,dates on sites in 48 hrs: DGCA to airlines

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)gave domestic airlines 48 hours to publish route-wise.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday gave domestic airlines 48 hours to publish route-wise and date-wise fares across their networks for both business and economy seats. The airlines will also be required to declare advance booking pricing by the first of every month on their websites.

The decision came at the end of three days of discussions the DGCA had with CEOs of domestic airlines over the sudden and inordinate surge in airfares since November 15. Director-General of Civil Aviation E K Bharat Bhushan met SpiceJet,IndiGo and Go Air on Saturday,and concluded his meeting with Jet Airways,Air India and Kingfisher today.

Despite an earlier order to submit fare details,airlines continued to charge high fares. They were told that action could be taken against them for failing to comply with the regulators orders, a Civil Aviation Ministry official said. The government is also likely to ask airlines to submit the maximum fare for spot bookings for destinations across their networks.

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Kingfisher chairman Vijay Mallya protested the move to regulate fares. There is no case for capping fares in a liberalised environment,be it at the upper or lower band. It is a function of demand and supply. It is not exploitation by the airlines… Airlines are fighting for market share,so demand and supply has to be respected, Mallya said at a Ficci conference.

Delhi-Mumbai economy fares currently range between Rs 5,000 and Rs 20,000; Delhi-Chennai and Delhi-Kolkata fares are between Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000. Two weeks ago,when last-minute or spot fares had skyrocketed,the cheapest last-minute ticket on the Delhi-Mumbai route cost Rs 17,000 four times or more higher than the Rs 3,000-odd fares on that route at the same time last year.

The Ministry last week rejected the airlines proposal to peg fares to distance slabs of less than 750 km,750-1,000 km,1,000-1,400 km and over 1,400 km. According to this proposal,a Delhi-Chandigarh or Chennai-Coimbatore economy ticket bought close to the travel date would cost Rs 10,500,and that for Delhi-Bangalore or Delhi-Kolkata up to Rs 40,000.