Fare bands for domestic flights have been kept unchanged till February 24, 2021, stated the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has also revealed that more flights would be allowed in the coming days based on passenger traffic.
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announced seven fare bands for domestic flights after Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had announced a cap on domestic airfare. These fare bands came into force with effect from May 21, 2020.
These seven fare bands are time-based. The first band has flights that are operated under 40 minutes duration. The rest of the fare bands are applicable on 40-60 minutes, 60-90 minutes, 90-120 minutes, 120-150 minutes, 150-180 minutes, and 180-210 minutes of flight durations.
According to details provided by the DGCA, Sector A has a minimum fare of Rs 2,000 and a maximum fare cap of Rs 6,000. Sector B has a minimum fare of Rs 2,500 and a maximum fare cap of Rs 7,500. Sector C has a minimum fare of Rs 3,000 and a maximum fare cap of Rs 9,000. Sector D has a minimum fare of Rs 3,500 and a maximum fare cap of Rs 10,000. Sector E has a minimum fare of Rs 4,500 and a maximum fare cap of Rs 13,000. Sector F has a minimum fare of Rs 5,500 and a maximum fare cap of Rs 15,700. Sector G has a minimum fare of Rs 6,500 and a maximum fare cap of Rs 18,600.
Meanwhile, the daily passenger traffic has reached 2.05 lakh on November 1, 2020. When domestic aviation opened in May 2020, the airlines were enabled to fly upto 33 per cent of the normal capacity. At that time, the average daily traffic was about 30,000. This cap was enhanced to 45 per cent with an effect from June 26, 2020. This cap was further revised to 60 per cent with an effect from September 2, 2020. At present, the airlines can operate up to 60 per cent of their capacity, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation stated that it has been monitoring the traffic every day, and it was expected that the traffic would further pick up because of the festival season and as the passenger traffic increases, the upper cap would be revised to 70-75 per cent of normal capacity in the coming days, the statement issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation read.
