International flights update: DGCA asks passengers to check airfares on airline's website

Representative image (Source: ShutterStock)

India’s aviation regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on August 10 asked passengers traveling to international destinations to check airfares preferably on the concerned airline's website.

On August 7, Sanjeev Gupta, a senior IAS officer, had in a tweet said that an economy-class ticket on British Airways's Delhi-London flight for August 26 was priced at around Rs 3,95,000.

Also Read: Explained | Why have India-UK airfares skyrocketed in recent days, and when will they fall?

Gupta added that economy-class ticket on Delhi-London flights of Vistara and Air India for August 26 was also priced between Rs 1,20,000 and Rs 2,30,000 amid the college admission time in the UK.

The Indian aviation regulator had on August 9 asked Indian airlines to submit details about the airfares they have been charging. Subsequently, the DGCA asked airlines to monitor fares offered on engines like Google to ensure that those sites do not show astronomical economy airfares.

The DGCA directed airlines to review their fares on third-party platforms sites and in case of discrepancies like those sites in order to avoid confusion for customers.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation on August 9 also issued a clarification saying that the reports claiming that the one-way economic tickets of India-UK have touched Rs 4,00,000 have 'no proven basis'.

The government's clarification comes after online travel agency platforms in India showed astronomical airfares for flights between India and the UK after August 7.

Market experts told Moneycontrol that the airfares reflecting on online websites were for the last few seats available on flights for a particular date and do not reflect the prices of seats already booked on the flight.

"While airfares have risen to very high levels on the back of low availability, most customers have completed bookings at prices lower than the current rates," a market expert from Goldman Sachs said.

Also Read: Rise in airfares: DGCA asks airlines to submit details about fares on India-UK flights

In April, the UK had placed India under its Red list, banning Indians from traveling to the UK due to the outbreak of the second wave of COVID-19 in India.

Last week the UK moved India to the Amber list, thus allowing Indians to travel to the UK. However, despite being allowed to travel to the UK even fully vaccinated Indians will have to follow the home quarantine guidelines even if they are fully vaccinated as neither Covishield nor Covaxin is recognized by the UK authorities.