Burdened Indian flyers want airfares capped again

The more than 30,000 responses the survey received revealed that passengers are also upset over low-cost airlines SpiceJet and Akasa charging higher prices than the full-service airlines like Vistara and Air India on the same routes.

No respite for Indian flyers

Last-minute fares on the Delhi-Mumbai route are now at a premium of more than 200% of $230 as against $80-100 before GoAir got grounded. Similarly, the price of a one-way Delhi-Kochi ticket, which was otherwise around $80, touched $267 in May.

And there is no immediate relief in sight for flyers. GoFirst has extended flight cancellations till June 4 as it seeks the aviation watchdog’s approval for its revival plan. Until it makes a comeback, demand will remain high—and so will prices.

“Go First was integral in ensuring that the sector is not a duopoly. Now the market has now largely split up into two broad camps. One is IndiGo one is Tata Airlines. So obviously when the market becomes a sort of a duopoly, which it will be right now, the fares will be much stiffer than they were back in the day,” Ajay Awtaney, founder of Live From A Lounge, an Indian aviation sector consultancy, told Business Today in May.

IndiGo holds the largest market share in India with the Tatas—Air India, Vistara, and Air Asia—coming a close second.