The pandemic created a lot of stress on the aviation industry due to the lockdown and the restricted travel norms imposed worldwide. Though there was no specific announcement made in the Budget 2021 to relieve this stress, the Ministry of Aviation has now increased the minimum and maximum cap on airfares across all bands.
According to a notification issued by the ministry on 11 February 2021, the limit on airfare will be increased by 10%-30%. Though the move is expected to bring some relief to the financially distressed aviation industry, it will make the air travel costlier until 31 March 2021.
Initially, when the bank on air travel was revoked in May 2021, the government had imposed fare restrictions via bands. The restrictions were framed such that the dynamic pricing doesn’t affect passengers.
The first band included flights with less than 40 minutes of travel time. The lower limit for such flights is now increased from Rs.2,000 to Rs.2,200. The upper limit for this band is currently set to Rs.7,800 from Rs.6,000.
The latest limits for all the bands are given in the table below:
| Travel Time of Flights | Latest Price Limits | Previous Price Range |
| Less than 40 minutes | Rs.2,200-Rs.7,800 | Rs.2,000-Rs.6,000 |
| 40-60 minutes | Rs.2,800-Rs.9,800 | Rs 2,500-Rs 7,500 |
| 60-90 minutes | Rs 3,300-Rs 11,700 | Rs 3,000-Rs 9,000 |
| 90-120 minutes | Rs 3,900-Rs 13,000 | Rs 3,500-Rs 10,000 |
| 120-150 minutes | Rs 5,000-Rs 16,900 | Rs 4,500-Rs 13,000 |
| 150-180 minutes | Rs 6,100-Rs 20,400 | Rs 5,500-Rs 15,700 |
| 180-210 minutes | Rs 7,200-Rs 24,200 | Rs 6,500-Rs 18,600 |
The ministry has stated that the new prices will be valid until 31 March 2021 or until further orders.
This move has made airline executives happy. However, they are hoping that the government will remove all the restrictions on airline travel soon. They think that the air ticket price hike is a welcome move in fuel price hike times.
For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, please contact the writer at apoorva.n@cleartax.in
