Amid the ongoing IndiGo crisis, the government on Saturday, November 6, issued directions to all airlines to strictly adhere to fare caps “until the situation fully stabilises.” In a press note on Saturday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said it has taken serious note of concerns over exceptionally high airfares charged by certain airlines during the ongoing disruption. “To protect passengers from any form of opportunistic pricing, the Ministry has invoked its regulatory powers to ensure fair and reasonable fares across all affected routes,” the statement said. The ministry further informed that an official directive has been issued to all airlines requiring strict compliance with the rates that have now been prescribed. “These limits will remain in effect until the situation has fully stabilized,” the statement said. Specific details about the plane tickets could not be immediately determined. The ministry added that the purpose of this directive is to maintain price discipline in the market, prevent any exploitation of passengers in need, and ensure that citizens who urgently need to travel – including senior citizens, students and patients – are not subjected to financial hardship during this period. The IndiGo fiasco Air travel across India was in turmoil this week after IndiGo canceled thousands of flights, prompting the government to announce special relief for the carrier and the operation of additional trains to help clear the backlog. For five consecutive days, IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, has canceled hundreds of flights, mainly due to crew problems. With a reduced number of flights, airfares on certain routes subsequently increased. On Friday, when IndiGo canceled more than 1,000 flights from across airports, CEO Pieter Elbers apologized in a video message for the great inconvenience caused to passengers due to the disruptions. In the one-way video communication, Elbers also said that the airline expects fewer than 1,000 flights on Saturday. Flight disruptions were also reported at several airports across the country on Saturday. Big hike in air fares Air fares hit unprecedented levels on Friday, with a one-way one-stop economy class SpiceJet Kolkata-Mumbai flight ticket for December 6 costing up to ₹90,000, and a similar ticket from Air India for Mumbai-Bhubaneswar going up to ₹84,485, according to the airline’s website, PTI reported. “The last-minute fares are generally two to three times the normal average fares. But in this situation, we have seen them go up even six times,” a source was quoted by PTI. “If a ₹10,000 ticket is being sold at ₹60,000, anywhere, I would call it black marketing, profiteering. So there is a big need to look at it,” said Nomad Travel CEO and Travel Agents Association of India former president Ajay Prakash. DGCA’s temporary relief to IndiGo After the chaos, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday offered temporary relief to IndiGo by rolling back the night duty definition to 12:00-05:00 from 12:00-06:00 earlier, and allowing its pilots to do six night landings from two earlier, besides other relaxations. After the meeting convened by the Ministry of Civil Aviation with ALPA India and other pilot associations on Friday, the Ministry announced that it has decided to put on hold the implementation of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR). Notably, IndiGo was the first carrier to oppose the new FDTL norms for pilots when it was introduced in January 2024, with a March implementation timeline. While the first phase of these FDTL norms came into effect in July, the second phase, which earlier reduced the number of night landings from six to two, was implemented from November 1.
السعودية
الكويت
مصر
الإمارات
لبنان
البحرين
الأردن
فلسطين
اليمن
المغرب
ليبيا
تونس
عمان
العراق
الجزائر
