The news that flights from India to the UK were to resume on May 1 was welcomed by many. But the pandemic leaves nothing untouched, and in August, a passenger complained that a flight from Delhi to London was being priced at Rs 4 lakh.
With India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) asking airlines to submit details about their airfares for India-UK flights, the regulator has taken note of the surge in prices. On Tuesday, the DGCA tweeted advising passengers to check airfares directly from the airlines’ websites and not via meta-search engines.
“Passengers travelling to international destinations are requested to check the fare preferably from the website of the concerned Airline as the meta search engines at times do not reflect the actual point to point fare and do make combinations of multiple Airlines and end up with an exaggerated figures,” the DGCA tweeted.
A senior official of the Directorate General of Civl Aviation (DGCA) said on Sunday that the regulator has asked the airlines that operate India-UK flights currently to submit details about their fares.
While there have been lower and upper limits on all domestic airfares in India since May 25 last year, no such limits have been imposed on international airfares.
Vistara, which currently operates flights on Delhi-London as wells Mumbai-London route, said on Sunday: "Pricing is always a function of supply and demand.
"There are only 15 flights a week allowed currently on India - UK route for Indian carriers and when there is relaxation and more capacity allowed, it will automatically bring down prices."
Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 last year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
However, limited special international passenger flights have been operating since July 2020 under the air bubble arrangements formed with 28 countries, including the UK.
With inputs from PTI
