NEW DELHI: Union Minister of Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu on Monday told the Rajya Sabha that the government is taking the issue of high airfares seriously and is keen to prevent opportunistic pricing, even as air travel remains a deregulated sector. He said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s tariff monitoring unit is being strengthened to keep a closer watch on fares.Responding to supplementaries during Question Hour, Naidu said the surge in airfares is largely due to a demand-supply mismatch. “We are monitoring more domestic routes and even international routes…The government wants to prevent the opportunistic pricing situation,” he said. He noted that the government makes sustained efforts to ensure passengers do not face problems at any touchpoint and that air travel remains smooth. Naidu said air prices rise when demand shoots up in a deregulated market.Regarding fare capping on December 6, the minister referred to operational disruptions at IndiGo. “We are all aware of the Indigo crisis that has happened, and we all know how much distress it has caused,” he said, pointing to capacity constraints at the time. “IndiGo is the major airline, and curtailment of its operations resulted in huge disruptions and cancellations…So generally the other side of the trend would be a rise in airfares…That is exactly why we have to keep the airfares very reasonable and affordable,” he added. In a written reply, he said AirSewa’s grievance redressal is regularly monitored and a new “Air Fare” category has also been added.
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