Airlines jack up fares for flights out of Leh

New Delhi: They may have survived the catastrophic cloudburst in Leh but were not spared of the greed of private airlines who reportedly charged sky-high fares to fly out of the Ladakh capital on Saturday. The aviation ministry received scores of complaints from people who said they paid up to twice or thrice the normal fare to fly to Delhi on Day 1 of evacuation in Leh. Sources said the fares went as high as Rs 30,000-35,000.
Miffed with these complaints, the aviation ministry on Saturday evening issued a directive to airlines not to overcharge. "Saturday being the first day of operations after the runway became operational, we were tied up coordinating with airlines to operate as many flights as possible to Leh. We received complaints and will act against airlines while ensuring no such repeats on Sunday," said sources.
Aviation ministry joint secretary Prashant Sukul is learnt to have pulled up airlines in evening and DGCA chief Nasim Zaidi will to be monitoring the fares. He warned of strict action if anyone tries to take advantage of the situation.
On Saturday, about eight commercial flights operated out of Leh to Delhi and on Sunday, three flights each by Kingfisher, Air India (domestic) and Jet each are expected to operate
08/08/10 Saurabh Sinha and Richi Verma/Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Aug 2010