On Thursday, the Union Civil Aviation Minister, Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, made a suggestion about reducing airfares, stating that they are too expensive for the common man. He stated that the government wants to ensure that air travel is inexpensive for everyone, and this can only be accomplished by making it more widely available.
“Since the time, my appointment as Minister of Civil Aviation has been announced. People have been reporting that prices have gone up in some manner over the past few years, especially after COVID, everywhere I go. I’m going to sit down with the stakeholders because I need to fully understand the problem”,Ram Mohan Naidu told the media.
“I’m going to have a review session. Without any hesitation, I would like to lower the cost of the tickets because it is an obstacle for the common man. Our goal is to make air travel accessible for everyone, but unless you can lower the cost, that goal will not be achieved,” he continued.
As a Cabinet minister in the Narendra Modi 3.0 administration at the federal level, Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu took an oath on Sunday. In the recently concluded Lok Sabha election, the 36-year-old leader from Srikakula in north Andhra Pradesh was victorious for the third time. By a margin of 3.2 lakh votes, he defeated YSRCP candidate Tilak Perada.
Data from Thomas Cook (India) and SOTC Travel shows that in May of this year, there was a year-over-year increase in airfare of up to 12.7% on important domestic routes such as Delhi-Bengaluru, Delhi-Mumbai, and Kolkata-Bagdogra.
The recent spike in airfares has been linked by aviation industry analysts to a number of factors, including depreciating rupees, fewer flights by major companies, and grounded aircraft due to engine supply concerns.
According to news reports, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which oversees civil aviation, approved domestic weekly departures for the summer schedule in March. This was about 6% more than it was during the same period last year.
Considering the demand during the peak travel period in the summer, it authorized 24,275 weekly domestic departures operated by 14 domestic airlines. Additionally, it authorized 1,922 foreign departures per week, an increase of 5.1% from the previous year.
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