With domestic flight services scheduled to restart under strict norms on Monday after a two-month hiatus, a minimum and maximum fare has been set for a period of three months. All the airlines will have to adhere to the upper and lower limits of fares prescribed by the Union government, the ministry said on Thursday.
Operations of all scheduled commercial passenger flights were suspended on March 25 when the nationwide lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic came into force.
The most dense route is Delhi-Mumbai, and will be charged between Rs 3,500 and Rs 10,000, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in a press conference. The caps on fares would be in place till August 24.
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In the metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata, flights have been allowed to operate one-third of their capacity, he said. While in the metro to non-metro cities and vice-versa, where the weekly departures are more than 100, each flight can operate one-third of its capacity. And, for all other cities, airlines are free to operate on any route on one-third of its capacity.
Puri said all the air travel routes have been divided into seven sections based on duration of flights ranging from 40 minutes to 210 minutes. The aim of the exercise is to control the fares, that is, to prescribe upper and lower limits of fares.
The minister said the first section will consist of flights that are of less than 40 minutes duration. Second, third, fourth and fifth bands of upper limit would be of flights with durations of 40-60 minutes, 60-90 minutes, 90-120 minutes and 120-150 minutes, he said. The sixth and seventh bands would consist of flights with durations between 150-180 minutes and 180-210 minutes.
Forty per cent of seats in any flight would have to be sold at the mid-point of the lower and upper limits of air fares—that is, for less than Rs 6,700 in case of a Delhi-Mumbai flight.
Puri further said the Union government will soon go for international operations, but with "tweaked rules".
He said that his ministry will now look at opening up international sector, which, for now, is limited to the Vande Bharat Mission, tasked with bringing back stranded Indians from abroad.
"Subsequently, number of flights will sought to be increased with gained experience. Based on this experience, with tweaked rules, we will go for international operations," Puri said.
But the aviation minister did not specify even a tentative deadline for it. Neither did he spell out the “tweaked rules” for international operations.
He also clarified that aircraft can fly to its maximum capacity, as there will not be any requirement to keep the middle seat vacant. "Leaving middle seat vacant will not be economically viable for airlines. So, we must take other corresponding preventive measures to maintain social distancing," Puri said.
The minister also clarified that Aarogya Setu is not mandatory for those whose phones are not compatible with such apps. "Other steps like self-declaration or thermal screeing will be done. A person will not be deprived of travelling only because he or she does not have the Aarogya Setu app," he added.
All passengers will have to provide their medical details through the Aarogya Setu app or by filling up a self-declaration form. They will have to go for web-check-in as physical check-in counters in airports will not operate.
(With inputs from Pradip K. Sagar)
