Ticket price surge due to aircraft shortage: Minister

The “real bottleneck” driving up ticket prices is not regulatory failure, but the global shortage of aircraft available for airlines to induct, Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu told the Lok Sabha on Friday, but emphasised that while the Centre holds exclusive powers to cap airfares in extraordinary circumstances, fare caps are not a comprehensive solution to rising ticket prices.

- Shehashish Roy

Aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu told the Lok Sabha that, in the aftermath of the IndiGo crisis, the DGCA discovered lapses surrounding tariff sheets detailing prices.

(REUTERS)

“The bottleneck is not within the country or with the government or airlines; it is with the availability of the aircraft,” Naidu told the House. His remarks came during a discussion on a private members’ bill moved by Congress MP Shafi Parambil, against the backdrop of public anger following the IndiGo meltdown that led to a major spike in airfares.

In the aftermath of the IndiGo crisis, the minister said, the DGCA discovered lapses surrounding tariff sheets detailing prices.

Airlines are required to publish a transparent tariff sheet detailing minimum and maximum fares across buckets, but inspections revealed deliberate concealment, he said.