Bokaro: The government raised its ceiling on domestic air fares and capacity, so travelers from Bokaro would now have to spend more to travel from Ranchi or other destinations. On Friday government eased caps on airfares and allowed airlines to sell up to 72.5% seats of their pre covid-19 capacity on domestic flights, up from 65% earlier.
The civil aviation ministry in a circular stated that for short distance flights with a duration of less than 40 minutes, the minimum fares have been raised to Rs2,900 from Rs2,600. The maximum fare that an airline can charge in these routes has been increased to Rs 8,800 from Rs 7,800 . The minimum and maximum fare chargeable shall continue to be rolled over for the 30 days cycle.
The caps were introduced to prevent unreasonable pricing by airlines during a crisis, while also preventing them from undercutting each other amid a slump in travel demand. The government’s decision to ease capacity cap and raise fares comes at a time when domestic air traffic has been witnessing significant recovery due to a steady fall in active coronavirus infections.
