From now on passengers will have to pay more money for air travel. Because the Ministry of Civil Aviation has raised the lower and upper limits of domestic air fares by 10 to 30%.
“These new limits will remain in force till March 31, 2021 or until further orders”
, the ministry said in its order.
The ministry imposed limits on airfare last year through a seven band classification based on flight duration.
| FLIGHT DURATION | OLD RANGE (₹) | NEW RANGE (₹) |
| Less than 40 minutes | 2000-6000 | 2200-7800 |
| 40-60 minutes | 2500-7500 | 2800-9800 |
| 60-90 minutes | 3000-9000 | 3300-11700 |
| 90-120 minutes | 3500-10000 | 3900-13000 |
| 120-150 minutes | 4500-13000 | 5000-16900 |
| 150-180 minutes | 5500-15700 | 6100-20400 |
| 180-210 minutes | 6500-18600 | 7200-24200 |
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said on 21 May, 2020 that each airline would sell at least 40% of its tickets on flights at prices lower than the midpoint between the lower limit and the upper limit.
Domestic passenger services resumed on May 25, 2020 after a suspension of nearly two months to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
With the airfare limit, the government had asked airlines not to operate on more than 33% of their pre-covid domestic flights. On 26 June, the cap was raised to 45%. It was gradually increased to 80%. The ministry, on Thursday, said that the 80% limit would remain the same up till the end of March.
The aviation sector has been affected largely by imposition of travel restrictions in India and other countries in the light of the coronavirus pandemic.
All Indian carriers over the past year took strict measures such as pay cuts, leave without pay, and staff firing to save cash.
Due to the coronavirus epidemic, the international air traffic continues in India from March 23, 2020. And the special international flights have been taking off since July 2020 under an air bubble arrangement formed with various countries.
