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Image used for representational purpose only.
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Following concerns raised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad over “spiralling” airfares for flights to Prayagraj during the ongoing Maha Kumbh festival, the Centre on Wednesday (January 29, 2025) advised airlines to ensure “reasonable” ticket prices for Hindu devotees.
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IndiGo said it had slashed airfares by 30% to 50% on all routes to and from Prayagraj.
The Minister for Civil Aviation, Ram Mohan Naidu, held a meeting with airline representatives “to review adequacy of air connectivity to Prayagraj from across the country while maintaining reasonable fares during the once in 144 years Maha Kumbh Mahotsav,” the Ministry posted on X.
The meeting was also attended by Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, V. Vualnam, and Director General of DGCA, Faiz Ahmed Kidwai along with other Ministry officials.
Earlier in the day, Union Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said his ministry has written to the DGCA on the issue.
“Maha Kumbh is witnessing a huge influx of devotees on a daily basis. The prices of airfares being exorbitantly high has made it difficult for people to make travel plans to attend Maha Kumbh. Keeping consumers’ interest in mind, we have written to the DGCA to take steps to reduce the prices of the air fares,” Mr. Joshi said in a social media post.
Also read | Maha Kumbh 2025: VHP flags ‘exorbitant hike’ in fare for Prayagraj flights, seeks govt intervention
On Monday, the VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal had claimed that airlines had raised airfares for flights to Prayagraj by “200% to 700%” and called it “unfair and unethical”. This was inconveniencing devotees who were unable to procure rail tickets, and couldn’t afford the exorbitant air fares, he said.
“This is an occasion for extending hospitality, devotion, and respectful service, not about charging unfair airfares,” he wrote on X on Monday.
The DGCA had also asked airlines to mount more flights to Prayagraj, following which 81 flights were added in January and more were to follow suit in February.
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Much like surge pricing used by cab aggregators like Ola and Uber, airlines use dynamic pricing to adjust prices in real-time based on factors like demand, competition, time of booking, competitor prices, even weather and popular events.
Global data provider OAG explains on its website that airlines have high fixed costs (fuel, airport slots, ground handling) and low variable costs (the cost of carrying one more passenger) and, therefore, in order to drive the most revenue and maximise profits, they need to sell the greatest number of seats for the highest possible price.
Published – January 29, 2025 06:40 pm IST