Air India on Saturday said it had already been limiting economy fares on domestic routes even before the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) imposed a temporary fare cap to rein in soaring ticket prices triggered by widespread disruption in the aviation sector.
In a statement issued after the government’s directive, the airline said economy-class fares on all non-stop domestic flights had been proactively capped since December 4. “Air India and Air India Express clarify that, since 4 December, economy class airfares on non-stop domestic flights have been proactively capped to prevent the usual demand-and-supply mechanism being applied by revenue management systems,” the airline’s spokesperson said.
Multi-Stop Fares, Capacity Push Amid Travel Disruption
The airline’s clarification came shortly after the government directed all carriers to comply with newly prescribed fare caps to prevent excessive pricing on disrupted routes. Air India also acknowledged that screenshots circulating on social media showed sharply higher fares on certain multi-stop itineraries and bookings involving mixed cabin classes such as economy, premium economy and business.
“We are aware of screenshots of last-minute itineraries with one-stop or two-stop flights, or a combination of economy and premium economy or business cabins taken from third-party platforms. It is not technically possible to cap all such permutations, but we are engaging such platforms to exercise oversight,” the statement said.
Amid the travel chaos, Air India said it was working to add capacity to ease pressure on passengers. “Air India and Air India Express are seeking to add capacity to help travellers and their baggage reach their destinations as quickly as possible,” the spokesperson added.
Government Invokes Regulatory Powers to Rein in ‘Opportunistic Pricing’
Earlier in the day, the civil aviation ministry said it had stepped in after taking “serious note” of complaints about unusually high airfares being charged on several routes during the ongoing disruption. Invoking its regulatory powers, the ministry announced that it had enforced “fair” and “reasonable” ticket prices on all affected routes to protect passengers from what it termed “opportunistic pricing”.
The intervention follows massive flight cancellations by IndiGo, which has scrapped at least 1,600 flights over the past week. The government has attributed the cancellations to mismanagement of crew rostering. The ministry said a formal order had been issued to all airlines directing compliance with the newly prescribed fare caps, though it did not disclose the specific limits. The caps, it added, would remain in force until the situation fully stabilises.
