Minimum one-way Delhi-London airfare zooms over Rs 1 lakh, DGCA data shows

UK has included India in amber list from Sunday; passengers from India needn't undergo institutional quarantine, can self-isolate at home for ten days

Minimum one-way air fares between Delhi and London are priced upwards of Rs one lakh in August due to limited number of seats, data collected by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) shows.

The United Kingdom has included India in the amber list and the change came into effect from Sunday. With this, passengers from India needn't undergo institutional quarantine and can self-isolate at home for 10 days. Increased passenger demand coupled with limited number of flights has led to a surge in fares.

As per the data compiled by the DGCA on Sunday, minimum one way airfares from Delhi to London are priced from Rs 1,03,191-1,47,544 in August. Tickets were available only on four days on British Airways website for month of August, it shows.

Currently number of flights between India and the UK is capped at 30 per week and these are being operated by Air India, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Visatra.

"At present, limited flights are available on this sector as scheduled international operations are suspended till August 31. The airfares on international sector are neither regulated nor monitored as they are dependent on demand and supply," said a senior DGCA official.

In a tweet, Air India said, "With revised entry requirements and mandatory intsitutional quarantine at UK, Air India had earlier allowed passengers an option of deferring their journey on gratis basis. These passengers have re-booked on the available flights now, creating a steep surge in bookings on many India-UK flights."

Air India added seats on economy class have been sold on fares mostly ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 45,000. As most of the regular flights to UK are booked near capacity, only upper bucket economy & business class seats are available now. "Hence the fares dynamics are on higher side. Our average fares remain usual without any upward revision," it added.