Centre may cap maximum and minimum air fares

The Union Government is considering capping economy air fares at Rs 20,000 to check airlines from charging “exorbitant” fares or unleashing predatory pricing, affecting their own financial health. The proposal comes in the backdrop of SpiceJet episode, which had come out with a series of low-fare offers throughout the year to beat competition and then facing cash crunch. “Steps may be taken to fix minimum and maximum air fares.... There is a need to fix a cap on the maximum air fare of economy class at a reasonable price of around Rs 20,000 beyond which the airline should not be allowed to charge, exploiting the passengers’ urgency for travel due to various reasons,” the Civil Aviation Ministry said in internal note.

The government is of the view that some of the companies are in danger of facing huge losses due to these huge discounts in fares with some of the fares not even covering the operating costs, it said, adding,” if the situation is not contained, some of the airlines in the country may face closure in near future”. According to the note, the airlines can be asked to submit their break-even price per kliometer, which will depend on the service offered and the type of aircraft among other factors. “An appropriate profit can be added to the break-even price per km and that can be minimum price per km to be charged by the concerned airline,” the note said.

The steps will ensure that no airline will go into losses, it said, adding the carriers should be asked to fix their air fares in such a way that earnings before interest, depreciation and tax (EBIDTA) should be positive. The note said the airline firms were charging very high spot fares and there were a large number of complaints from Jammu and Kashmir, the North-East, the Andaman and Nicobar and several other places in the country.