IndiGo Crisis: In view of the increasing crisis in the aviation sector in recent years, the government has now become active. The Civil Aviation Ministry has imposed an emergency fare cap on domestic flights. This step has been taken at a time when IndiGo had canceled a large number of flights after the implementation of Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules.
This rule was implemented to protect pilots from excessive fatigue, but it had a serious impact on IndiGo, which was facing staff shortage. Due to mandatory rest for pilots, flights were canceled due to which thousands of passengers had to face problems and the prices of air tickets on busy routes increased rapidly.
government in action
After government intervention, the maximum fare for a one-way economy ticket up to 500 km has now been fixed at Rs 7,500, while for a distance of 1,000 to 1,500 km – such as the Delhi-Mumbai route – the maximum fare has been fixed at Rs 15,000.
The government has fixed a cap of Rs 18,000 for flights covering a distance of more than 1,500 kilometres. Airport charges and taxes will be collected separately. This cap will be applicable on all airlines and booking platforms. It is noteworthy that a similar fare cap was imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic, which was removed in 2022 when the situation became normal.
Fair cap decided
According to government officials, this step had to be taken because the air fares were witnessing a sharp increase after continuous cancellation of flights by IndiGo, especially in view of the busy travel season of December. IndiGo’s crisis had a direct impact on other airlines as well, who took advantage of the increasing demand and increased the fares.
Since IndiGo holds about 60 per cent share in the domestic air market, the widespread cancellation of its flights created an imbalance in the entire sector, prompting the government to intervene and impose a fare cap.
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