Private airlines fleece consumers

Domestic airlines continued to charge exorbitant fares in the wake of the Jat stir with some carriers spiking ticket prices to as high as Rs 23,000 for a Amristsar-Mumbai flight, a hike of over 300 per cent, even as Government washed its hands off, saying it can only “request” them to keep the rates under check.

According to travel portals, while the fares for a SpiceJet flight to Amritsar from Mumbai for Tuesday stood at a whopping Rs 23,610, IndiGo, GoAir and SpiceJet's fares for a Delhi-Amritsar flight have been quoted as Rs 18,562. Similarly, full service carrier Jet Airways has hiked its fares to Rs 16,815 for a Delhi-Chandigarh flight on Tuesday. At the same time, national carrier Air India was charging Rs 11,678 for a Jaipur-Mumbai journey, while budget carriers had upped the fares to Rs 17,418.