Civil Aviation Ministry not to regulate airfares after analysis, okays price structure

NEW DELHI: The civil aviation ministry has dropped its plan to regulate airfares. The decision, which spells a relief for airlines, came after the ministry's analysis of lowest and highest fares showed fares have come down or only marginally increased in the past few years.

The ministry has decided against regulating fares even as members of Parliament and a parliamentary panel urged it to put in place a mechanism. Its analysis since January-March 2014 on six key routes showed fares have lowered or marginally increased

"We did a quarterly analysis of fares for some quarters and it shows that fares have not gone up to the extent costs for airlines have. As of now, we do not see any reasoning behind regulating fares. All airlines declare their minimum and maximum fares to the aviation regulator every month and that it is a transparent enough mechanism to check fares," civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju told ET in an interview recently.

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