NEW DELHI: Amid demands to regulate airfare, civil aviation minister K Rammohan Naidu said in Lok Sabha on Friday that the govt retains the power to intervene in extraordinary circumstances – as seen during the recent spike in ticket prices due to mass-cancellation of IndiGo flights -to protect passengers against opportunistic pricing but emphasised the importance of deregulation and viability of airlines for the sector to grow.Rejecting criticism of soaring air prices, he said in real terms the growth in airfare is actually negative if consumer price index is factored in. In India, it has fallen by 43% compared to 23% in the US and 34% in China, he said, insisting that it is obvious that a certain pricing level has been maintained to keep it affordable for people.“We all feel these are companies which are charging a lot of money. But none of them are making good money. Most of them are in losses. We have to keep this in mind,” he said, replying to a debate on a private member’s resolution on “appropriate measures to regulate airfare in the country”.Hitting back at opposition members who targeted the govt over instances of exorbitant airfares and the alleged duopoly in the sector, he said no matter how much politics they resort to, the governing alliance is committed to people and ensuring that more and more places are brought on the aviation map. If this was not the case, PM Narendra Modi would not have been elected to office three times in a row, Naidu asserted. He emphasised that deregulation in the sector since 1994 had led to its growth as more airlines joined in and competition rose to the benefits of passengers. Competition Commission of India and courts have also advocated deregulation, he said.Congress MP Shafi Parambil, who had moved the resolution, cited the airfare of over Rs 60,000 in a Srinagar to Delhi flight following the Pahalgam terror attack to bat for regulation but withdrew his resolution as per the standard convention in cases of private members’ business.Naidu noted that the govt has a tariff monitoring unit, which is being made more powerful by its inclusion in aircraft rules to lend it statutory provisions. He said the govt had intervened to cap prices for air tickets to Prayagraj during the Mahakumbh this year, and it had taken similar measures after the Pahalgam terror attack.It is not that price surge occurs every day but mostly during festive seasons, he said, stressing that the govt has sat with airlines to augment capacities in specific routes during such occurrences. Aircraft availability is one of the constraints for the sector, and the govt is working at a programme so that aircraft are manufactured in India and the country grows as a leasing hub like Ireland and Singapore, he added.
