 "Civil Aviation Minister, Ashok Gajapathi Raju")
"Airlines might not be angels, but definitely they are not demons", Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday said amid concerns over arbitrary hike in air fares.
Making it clear that there will not be a simplistic solution to deal with exorbitant rise in air fares, he reiterated that capping would not be an answer as that would also push up the floor prices.
Against the backdrop of persisting concerns over airlines charging higher fares, especially during emergencies, Raju asserted airlines have been responsive during crises.
To buttress his point against capping, the minister cited an analysis done last year which showed only around 1.7% of tickets sold were in the higher fare bucket.
"Caps and floors are very interesting but we should not land in a situation that pushes up the price of over 90% of passengers to benefit around 1.7% of passengers," Raju said in response to a query on whether the government would look at capping air fares.
Stressing that the overall objective is to ensure reasonable pricing of air tickets, the minister said airlines have been responsible in keeping fares reasonable during Chennai and Srinagar floods.
"We need to work with them and find a solution," Raju said.
Earlier this month, he had ruled out the possibility of capping air fares against the backdrop of passenger complaints of arbitrary tariff hikes, saying competition among airlines will take care of the problem.
Concerns have been expressed in various quarters over steep fluctuation in air fares, especially during natural calamities and other emergencies. There have been instances of air ticket prices shooting up during the recent Jat agitation.
Besides, airlines had come in for criticism over steep hike in ticket cancellation charges and higher levy for various unbundled services.
