The government has decided to increase minimum airfares by 13-15 percent for domestic flights with effect from June 1, while slashing domestic flight capacity to 50 percent of pre-COVID levels.
The upper limit on airfare will remain unchanged, however. The move by the government is aimed to help airlines in recuperating costs as the volume of air travel has declined by a significant margin over the course of the second wave of COVID-19 in India.
The official order said that the lower limit for flights under 40 minutes of duration will be increased from Rs 2,300 to Rs 2,600 and for the flights with a duration between 40-60 minutes the fare increased to Rs 3,300 from Rs 2,900.
The minimum price for flights of duration between 60-90 minutes, 90-120 minutes, 120-150 minutes, 150-180 minutes and 180-210 minutes will be Rs 4,000, Rs 4,700, Rs 6,100, Rs 7,400 and Rs 8,700 respectively.
From June 1, maximum occupancy on the domestic flight will be 50 percent of pre-COVID-19 levels. Currently, flights are operating at 80 percent occupancy of pre-COVID-19 levels.
The Central government said that the decision was taken "in view of the sudden surge in the number of active COVID-19 cases across the country, decrease in passenger traffic and passenger load factor (occupancy rate)."
The past year has seen a massive slump in fortunes for the airline industry with lockdowns, travel restrictions and restrictions on maximum occupancy. Air carriers had been asked to only carry 33 percent of their max occupancy in planes until December 2020 when the limit was increased to 80 percent.
