Domestic flights from May 25, Govt regulates domestic airfares

ET Now Digital
New Delhi, May 21: Union Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri addressing a press conference on Thursday (May 21) said that the Government has regulated airfares for the next three months as there is huge pent up demand because of the lockdown and airlines will be running one-third of the approved summer schedule flights on the metro-metro routes.
On Wednesday the Civil Aviation Ministry had announced that domestic flights will resume in a calibrated manner from May 25.
Quoting examples, the Minister said, on the Delhi-Mumbai route the minimum fare has been set at Rs 3,500 while the maximum airfare on the route is capped at Rs 10,000. Also, airlines need to sell minimum 40% seats at a fare which is less than the midpoint of the minimum and maximum value, the Minister added.
"For example if we take the Delhi-Mumbai route, the lowest fare prescribed is Rs 3,500 while the upper limit is Rs 10,000. How this works is airlines have a system of buckets, this fare band is split into buckets and then airlines allot seats in different buckets. Only a lower and upper cap may create problems as airlines may sell all at the highest price. So we are putting a second rider, that 40% of the seats have to be sold at a fare less the mid-point of the band, which is around Rs 6,700," said Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary, Civil Aviation explaining the mechanism.
Worth mentioning here is that all the domestic routes have been divided into seven categories based on the time of travel. For each category, minimum and maximum fares have been fixed. 
On Wednesday Puri declared that domestic civil aviation operations will resume in a calibrated manner from May 25, 2020. Today the Civil Aviation Ministry issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for passenger movement which needs to be followed by airports, passengers and airlines.
According to the SOP, passengers have to report at the airport 2 hours before flights and only one check-in bag per passenger will be allowed. No passengers from containment zones will be allowed to travel. All passengers will have to provide their medical details through the Aarogya Setu app or by filling up a self-declaration form. They will have to go for web-check-in as physical check-in counters in airports will not operate.