Airfares may rise on Mumbai curbs

The imposition of flight curbs at Mumbai airport to ease congestion might lead to higher airfares thanks to fewer flights, experts predicted.

- Anu Sharma

At the same time, they added that airlines at the country's second busiest airport could use the opportunity to improve their on-time performance.

On Tuesday, the Union aviation ministry imposed curbs on the number of flights to be handled at the Adani group-owned airport, slamming it for not taking proactive measures to ease congestion, even though the airport was operating at full capacity.

The congestion at the Mumbai airport was forcing flights to hover in the air for 40-60 minutes, wasting significant amounts of fuel-costing about ₹1.8 lakh for a 40-minute circling time to ₹2.6 lakh for 60 minutes. This was driving up airfares, apart from affecting airport operations, resulting in delays.

The aviation ministry said this was due to excessive slot allocation by the airport operator for landing and departure with short intervals, airlines not adhering to their slots, and unscheduled flights during peak hours.