Jet Airways crisis: Airfares soar 10-30% in 10 sectors, DGCA asks airlines to check prices
New Delhi: As Jet Airways stares at shutdown amid acute financial crisis, airfares in the country are rising due to continued flight cancellation by the cash-strapped airline, which has reduced capacity in the aviation sector.
According to DGCA secretary PS Kharola, out of the 40 sectors it monitors, airfares have risen by 10-30% in ten sectors. The regulator has asked airlines to stabilise fares on a priority, the Times of India quoted Kharola as saying.
According to Kharola, airlines in India are adding at least 10 more aircraft in a month, which will increase capacity in the sector. Also, many airlines are in talks with lessors of Jet’s repossessed planes to acquire them. “Almost 90% of Jet slots are unused at the moment and they are being allotted to others temporarily,” the ToI report quoted a top aviation bureaucrat as saying.
The aviation regulator in a meeting on Tuesday asked domestic airlines to keep fares low as far as possible.
Low-cost airlines SpiceJet and IndiGo are adding aircraft and introducing new flights. Tata Group-Singapore Airlines JV Vistara could be asked to see if they can prepone their widebody operations, the ToI report said citing sources. SpiceJet will add 16 Boeing 737 — many that till not so long ago flew for Jet — and five 90-seater Q400 to its fleet. IndiGo will operate 18 additional flights out of Mumbai and Delhi by May 10, the daily said.
Although other airlines are adding capacity, the biggest problem thousands of travellers booked tickets on Jet are facing are two-fold. While they await refunds, the travellers are also forced to buy tickets at high spot fares. Both domestic and international fares have spiked after the Jet crisis.
The two biggest questions people who have booked domestic and international tickets on Jet are: Should they cancel tickets and will Jet give a refund? Their common complaint: Spot fares they are forced to buy on other airlines have rocketed.
