The biggest hike was recorded in Akasa Air’s flight to Ahmedabad that saw a jump of a shocking 1258% against its normal rate. | File Image
While thousands of Indians plan their holidays and visits to their hometowns, the domestic airline sector has burdened the travellers with a massive hike in airfares. The air travellers on the domestic sectors originating from Mumbai are witnessing unbelievable increase in airfare which has went as high as 1258% on Ahmedabad route, followed by Dabolim, Bengaluru, Kolkata and others.
On Wednesday, The Free Press Journal reported about the complaint made by Mumbai Grahak Panchayat to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs against massive surge in airfares. MGP had complained against Indigo, Air India, Akasa Air and SpiceJet flights flying between Mumbai, Delhi and Lucknow, which have raised the fare ranging from Rs 6,000 to Rs 13,000 in September and October to Rs 12,100 to Rs 27,800 during the first week of December.
The FPJ deep dived into the airfares released by these airlines and found out that flights originating from Mumbai have seen a considerable jump in their fares during holiday season compared to the normal rates. The biggest hike was recorded in Akasa Air’s flight to Ahmedabad that saw a jump of a shocking 1258% against its normal rate.
Similarly, Air India’s flight to Goa’s Dabolim has seen an increase of 766% against its normal fare, Air India’s airfare for Bengaluru has increased by 625%, Air India’s flight to Kolkata saw 491%, Indigo’s flight to Chennai saw 355%, Indigo’s flight to Jaipur saw 345%, Indigo for Bhubaneshwar saw 145% whereas Air India for Amritsar saw 133% increase against the normal airfare.
On the other hand, routes with monopoly of airline companies also saw a steep rise in airfare with Air India’s flight to Bhuj at 310% and Indigo’s flight to Agra at 72.86%. These hikes in airfares have come prior to the holiday season which will see rise in air travelling with people going on vacations or visiting their hometowns during the holidays of Christmas and New Year.
Shirish Deshpande, chairman of Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, said, “We have already complained to the civil aviation and the consumer affairs ministries about the steep increase in airfares but these figures are even more shocking. We are looking forward to immediate government intervention in this issue. The central consumer protection authority has the jurisdiction to interfere in cases of unfair trade practice and take action to prevent it.”
Recently government oil firms have announced another hike in aviation turbine fuel by Rs1,318 a month after the hike of Rs2,941, the current ATF price in Mumbai has soared up to Rs85,861 per kilolitre. While this price hike is expected to increase airfares domestically and internationally, passengers are already complaining of “unbearable” price surge before the holiday season.
A study published by the Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific & Middle East in November had revealed that India saw a 43% rise in domestic airfares in the first half of 2024, compared to the pre-pandemic levels. The study, which was conducted by examining airfare trends across 6 lakh routes in 19 countries from 2019 to 2024, claimed that India saw the second highest airfare hike after Vietnam at 63%.
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