Govt caps fares for airlines: Here is how much your flight tickets will cost – The Indian Express

Air India flights at the hangar in Mumbai

To ensure that ticket prices are affordable for passengers and at the same time financially viable for airlines, which have been one of the worst affected due to the Covid-19 lockdown, the government on Thursday capped air fares for three months and divided the routes into seven bands based on duration of flights.

“The first band, which would have its specific lower and upper limits of air fare, will consist of flights that are of less than 40 minutes duration. Second, third, fourth and fifth bands of upper limit would be of flights with duration of 40-60 minutes, 60-90 minutes, 90-120 minutes and 120-150 minutes,” Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.

Explaining the methodology of ticket fares, Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said 40 per cent of the seats in any flight would have to be sold at the mid-point of the lower and upper air fare limits prescribed for any route by the authorities.

In the case of a Delhi-Mumbai flight, the minimum fare will be Rs 3,500 and the maximum fare will be Rs 10,000. Thus, for a Delhi-Mumbai flight having a total of 180 seats, the ticket fares will range between Rs 3,500 and Rs 10,000. Moreover, at least 72 seats (or 40 per cent of all seats) will have to be sold at a price less than Rs 6700.

Besides, the minister said only one-third flights would be permitted to operate from metro to non-metro cities where weekly departures are more than 100. “For all other cities, airlines are free to use 1/3rd capacity of approved summer schedule 2020,” Puri said.

Here is how much your tickets will cost:

👉 Domestic flights with less than 40-minute duration to have lower and upper limit of Rs 2000 and Rs 6000

👉 For flights with duration between 40-60 minutes, lower and upper fare limit is Rs 2,500 and Rs 7,500

👉 For flights with duration between 60-90 minutes, lower and upper fare limit is Rs 3,000 and Rs 9,000

👉 For flights with duration between 90-120 minutes, lower and upper fare limit is Rs 3,500 and Rs 10,000

👉 For flights with duration between 120-150 minutes, like ones on Delhi-Bengaluru route, lower and upper fare limit is Rs 4500 and Rs 13000

👉 For flights with duration between 150-180 minutes, like ones on Delhi-Imphal route, lower and upper fare limit is Rs 5500 and Rs 15700

👉 For flights with duration between 180-210 minutes, like ones on Delhi-Coimbatore route, lower and upper fare limit is Rs 6500 and Rs 18600

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