Minister frowns; Airlines cut back fares

New Delhi, Feb 12: In the wake of hike in the airfares of many airlines, Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel on Tuesday, Feb 10 condemned the fare hike of a leading airline and gave a strong statement against 'cartelisation'.

“The Ministry is against any cartelisation among airlines. We will keep watch and take strict action in any such case," said Praful Patel.

Jet Airways announced 30-day apex fares on key domestic routes after Patel made his displeasure over airlines hiking fares clear. Jet"s decision means that passengers will have to pay a base fare of Rs 300.

If a passenger books a ticket with Jetlite in 30 days advance, he will have to pay a base fare of Re 1 for major domestic routes.

the Minister's statement came in the wake of leading airlines' decision to stop promotional fares to arrest losses. However, air India announced a ten per cent lower airfare than Jet Airways and Kingfisher's cheapest price.

Patel said Air India will "never be a part of such cartelisation and will ensure that competitive pricing ensures better prices to passengers".

Though major airlines decided to stop the low-fare advance purchase (APEX) schemes, an Air India spokesperson said the airline's passengers, while enjoying fares cheaper than those of the private players, would get another ten per cent discount if they bought tickets through the website.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)