Kerala floods: Airfares within permissible limits, says Aviation ministry

New Delhi: Monitoring of airfares to Kerala by the civil aviation ministry has shown it is within permissible limits. According to data released by the ministry, the fares on short routes range from Rs 3,395-Rs 6,999, while for longer routes it is Rs 6,017-Rs 10,000.

“Monitoring of airfare carried out on August 19 has revealed that maximum fares on various domestic non-stop direct routes to/from Kerala and nearby airports are ranging from Rs 3,395 to Rs 6,999 for shorter routes and from Rs 6,017 to Rs 10,000 on longer routes,” an update from the ministry said.

“It is clarified that high airfares shown on some social media tweets are for hopping and very long duration flights,” the update said.

With heavy rains pounding Kerala, aviation regulator DGCA had on Friday observed a worrying “spike in airfare on few routes” following which scheduled domestic airlines were asked “to cap the maximum fare around Rs 10,000 on longer routes and around Rs 8000 on shorter routes to/from Kerala and nearby airports” to various destinations.

The DGCA had cracked the whip and had also convened “a meeting with higher management of domestic airlines” on the matter to ensure that private domestic airlines do not exploit the situation and over-charge passengers. With Cochin airport shut due to the rains, the DGCA had also asked scheduled domestic carriers to mount additional flights to Trivandrum, Calicut, Mangalore and Coimbatore.

All decks have also been cleared for starting of commercial flights to the naval airstrip at Kochi (Cochin). The government update on Sunday also said that “based on satisfactory risk management, the Standard Operating Procedure of Alliance Air (subsidiary of national carrier Air India) for operation of ATR 72 aircraft to/from INS Garuda, Cochin has been approved”.

The ministry update added, “Schedule submitted by Alliance Air for Bengaluru-Cochin-Bengaluru (two flights) and Bengaluru-Coimbatore-Cochin-Coimbatore-Bengaluru (one flight) on daily basis with ATR 72 aircraft has been approved for operation from INS Garuda, Cochin airport with effect from August 20, 2018.”