NEW DELHI: The first few days post lockdown could see airfares skyrocket to up to three times the pre-corona ticket costs as flights may be operating with only one-third occupancy to ensure maximum social distancing between onboard passengers.
Aviation authorities are evaluating the option of allowing only one person in a row of three seats, with another passenger in the immediately-behind row-of-three on the diametrically opposite seat — widow-aisle-windowaisle configuration — during ‘Phase I’ of the restart. The seating capacity of a 180-seater single aisle (six seats across 30 rows) will, therefore, fall by two-thirds to 60 (two persons on each row of six seats across 30 rows). To compensate for the loss of capacity, airlines will need to raise fares by anywhere between 1.5 to 3 times, say officials.
