Air fares take-off: passenger holiday plans hit

Mumbai: Sky rocketing air fares have hit Diwali holiday plans of many.

Blaming high jet fuel prices and a devaluation of the rupee, airlines across the board have hiked domestic air fares by almost 30 per cent.

And adding to the disappointment of the travelling public, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has made it clear the ministry is not going to step in.

"We cannot regulate the fares. We don't regulate the fares, if we find there is some collusion then we can refer it to the competition commission," he said.

The steep rise in domestic air fares have busted the holiday plans of Shiv Kumar Pandit and his family.

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A native of Himachal Pradesh, the jump in fares means he may not be able to make it for his annual holiday to his hometown with his family of five.

"It is not at all possible to go with the current increase in fares", he laments. "Now I'll have to check if my aged mother can travel by train. If she is ok then fine or we will have to just change our plans", he says disappointed.

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"Either they don't want passengers or they want them to travel by train or they want their planes to simply stand empty because this is just too much!" he says.

Iqbal Mulla, the President of Travel Agents Association of India, a body that represents at least 50,000 travel agents across the country, says it will hurt Tourism during peak season and the hike is unreasonable.

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"Ratio of ATF (Air Turbine Fuel) increase and the ratio of increase in airfares, there is a vast difference. Overall increase in ATF is not more than 12 odd per cent but air fare increase by airlines is enormous", Mr Mulla said.

But airlines contend that they can no longer absorb the losses. In a statement SpiceJet said: "The rise in our operating costs has been abrupt, serious and largely driven by the rapidly weakening rupee. About 75 per cent of the total spending is either directly or indirectly influenced by the US dollar, which has appreciated by 25 per cent in this year alone. SpiceJet is in no position to absorb the additional burden and we are compelled to put through the fare hikes to neutralise the impact of increase in costs."

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Industry watchers believe air fares are unlikely to come down anytime soon. In fact domestic air fares could even rise further.

It could mean that international flights in certain sectors will become cheaper than domestic flights. Already round fare tickets of international destination like Mumbai-Dubai-Mumbai cost just about two thousand odd rupees more than a Mumbai-Delhi-Mumbai fare. And travel agents say it is only a matter of time that travelling to sectors like Dubai might become cheaper than domestic travel.