By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 6: Airfares soared across several routes out of Shillong following widespread IndiGo flight cancellations nationwide.
IndiGo fares from Shillong to Kolkata are currently ranging between Rs 8,000 and Rs 13,000 for the coming week. The price for a direct, 50-minute IndiGo flight from Shillong to Imphal hit Rs 8,400 on Monday. Alliance Air also increased its direct flight fare between Shillong and Aizawl to Rs 4,500 on Monday.
Responding to the disruption, the Ministry of Civil Aviation invoked its regulatory powers to ensure fair and reasonable fares across all affected routes and protect passengers from opportunistic pricing.
The Ministry issued a directive mandating all airlines adhere strictly to prescribed fare caps. These caps, the Ministry stated, will remain in force until the situation stabilses.
It may be mentioned that domestic carrier IndiGo cancelled over 800 flights on Saturday, the fifth day of the ongoing crisis, even as the government imposed a cap on airfares and directed the airline to process all refunds by Sunday evening.
The airline’s on time performance from six metro airports plunged to 3.7 per cent on Friday, as per the civil aviation ministry website.
The government said regulatory action will be initiated against the airline in case of any non-compliance.
With IndiGo flight disruptions impacting thousands of passengers, the civil aviation ministry on Saturday directed the airline to complete the ticket refund process for the cancelled flights by Sunday evening, and ensure baggage separated from the travellers are delivered in the next two days.
The airline had cancelled over 1,000 flights on Friday.
IndiGo, in a statement, also said it is addressing all customer refund issues on “priority”.
Railways announces 89 special trains
Meanwhile, the Railways announced 89 special trains across all zones to be operated in the next three days starting Saturday to help people facing travel disruptions due to the mass flight cancellations by IndiGo.
In a coordinated move by the Railway Ministry, the trains, which are to make over 100 trips, were arranged in the shortest possible time after analysis of train traffic situations in major cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Patna, and Howrah, among others.
Appropriate action based on probe panel findings
Authorities will take appropriate action in the matter of IndiGo flight disruptions depending on the inquiry committee findings, a senior government official said on Saturday.
As flight disruptions continued for the fifth straight day, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu, along with senior civil aviation ministry officials, held a “serious meeting” with IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers to review the situation and address the issues, the official said.
The meeting, held in the national capital on Saturday, was attended by Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha, and DGCA chief Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, among others. (With PTI inputs)
