Minimum flight fare on Delhi-Mumbai route to be Rs 3,500
New Delhi : Union Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday announced that the domestic civil aviation operations will begin from 25 May 2020.
He announced a new set of SOPs, including a cap on the minimum and maximum fare on different routes. Here are the key takeaways from his presser:
- For operation from Metro to Metro cities 1/3rd capacity of approved summer schedule 2020, which is more than 33.33%.
- For operation from Metro to Non-metro cities & vice-versa, where weekly departures are greater than 100, 1/3rd capacity of approved summer schedule 2020.
- Metro cities are Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.
- New fare structure in place: Earlier the air carriers could put its range (minimum to maximum) on the website...we have looked at corresponding rail fares. We want air travel to become affordable. We have set a minimum fare, and a maximum fare. For Delhi to Mumbai the minimum fare would be ₹3,500 and maximum at ₹10,000.
- We've set a minimum and a maximum fare which will be operative for 3 months - till midnight on 24 August.
- Routes divided in 7 sectors: 0-30 minutes, 30-60 minutes, 60-90 minutes, 90-120 minutes, 120-150 minutes, 150-180 minutes, and 180-210 minutes.
- 40% of seats have to be sold at a fare less than the midpoint of the band. For example, midpoint of ₹3500 & ₹10000 is ₹6700. So 40% of the seats have to be sold at a price less than ₹6700.
The commercial flights in India were suspended on March 25 amid the lockdown to stop spread of coronavirus.
The civil aviation ministry also said passengers who are not allowed to travel due to their health or age should be allowed to change their date of travel without a penalty.
