Ticket prices remain high, weekend travellers spared

Airfares for Saturday and Sunday dropped to normal levels, prevalent before September 6. But travel woes are far from over, reports Soubhik Mitra.

Airfares for Saturday and Sunday dropped to normal levels, prevalent before September 6. But travel woes are far from over.

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Fares for Monday remained ‘exceptionally high’ against which the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a warning on Thursday.

While the DGCA asked airlines to reduce fares, airlines continued to charge high fares to 22,000 spillover passengers that Jet Airways carry daily.

A trip to Delhi from Mumbai on economy class is priced up to Rs 17,500. Budget carriers are charging upto Rs 8,000 for the same trip, which is double the normal fare.

“Fares for Saturday and Sunday have dipped because it is a lull period for business travellers,” said Anup Kanuga, chairman (western region) with the Travel Agent Association of India.

Despite several calls made to Nasim Zaidi, directorate general of DGCA, he did not take calls or reply to text messages.

On Thursday, the regulator issued an order claiming that airlines have been charging ‘exorbitant tariff’ though there has been not much change in their operations in the week until the Jet crisis began.

The Air Passenger Association of India, a body formed by fliers, alleged that airlines are making ‘quick bucks’.

“We will wait till Monday. If this continues we will write a letter to the DGCA and send a copy to the Prime Minister,” Sudhakar Reddy, national president of the association.

With rumours of the deadlock between Jet Airways pilots and the airline management nearing an end many travellers have put their travel plans on hold. “Low-cost airlines are quoting Rs 15,000 for an afternoon flight to Chennai. This is horrendous,” said Sunek Mehta, a chartered accountant.

On Friday, Jet Airways cancelled 41 departures and 40 arrivals until 8 pm.