Centre seeks to bring transparency in airfare

The civil aviation ministry has asked a group comprising air passengers, airline CEOs and travel experts to submit a report on ways to bring transparency in airfares by the month end.

The civil aviation ministry has asked a group comprising air passengers, airline CEOs and travel experts to submit a report on ways to bring transparency in airfares by the month end.

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The group is part of the Civil Aviation Economic Advisory Council (CAEAC) formed earlier this month to address the problem of high airfares. Last minute price of domestic tickets doubled mid-November. The group comprises of a passenger body, travel agents, advertising professional and airlines CEOs.

It would examine the existing system of passenger fare structuring by all the scheduled domestic airlines and the manner in which fares are disclosed to the public. The ministry has asked the group to identify areas where disclosure of tariffs and conditions of service by scheduled domestic airlines require improvement in promoting transparency.

Based on the report’s findings, the ministry would recommend measures to airlines. The group has also been asked to recommend improvements in the system of tariff monitoring by DGCA and at the same time study international fare structures.

“Disparity in airline fares, reduction in domestic fleet size and the ambiguity in tax structure are some of the issues to be discussed,” said Sudhakar Reddy, national president, Air Passenger Association of India.