Kochi: For Malayalis working in West Asian countries, celebrating Onam would be a costly affair this year as most of the airline companies have jacked up fares five-seven times for flights until the second week of September, when the school vacation in West Asia coincides with Onam.
Dealing a double whammy to the expatriates who have already been reeling under severe pressure following the crash of oil prices, which triggered massive austerity drives across the Gulf, the Central Government has made it clear that the Civil Aviation Department would not be able to rein in the airline companies that fleece passengers by charging exorbitant prices in the Kerala-Gulf sector during peak seasons, saying that any intervention would be contravention of the Aircraft Rule-1937.
According to travel agents, airfares will be five-seven times higher this season than the normal fares, and that fares would hit an all-time high on September 7, 8 and 9. As per fares quoted as on 30 August, passengers will have to pay `63,099 for flying in the Dubai-Kochi sector on September 7 (non-stop) on Jet Airways. Meanwhile, the fare touched a record high of `1,63,061 for Jet Airways one-stop flight in the Riyadh-Kochi sector on September 8.
“The fares are set to go up further for passengers who purchase tickets in the last minute - on many routes, fares are expected to cross the `1 lakh mark,” according to travel agents. When the issue of exorbitant fares being charged in the Kerala-Gulf route was brought to the attention of the Civil Aviation Ministry, Minister Jayant Sinha said airlines set the fares driven by various market forces, which is a practice in the aviation industry globally.
01/09/16 Dhinesh Kallungal/New Indian Express
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Dealing a double whammy to the expatriates who have already been reeling under severe pressure following the crash of oil prices, which triggered massive austerity drives across the Gulf, the Central Government has made it clear that the Civil Aviation Department would not be able to rein in the airline companies that fleece passengers by charging exorbitant prices in the Kerala-Gulf sector during peak seasons, saying that any intervention would be contravention of the Aircraft Rule-1937.
According to travel agents, airfares will be five-seven times higher this season than the normal fares, and that fares would hit an all-time high on September 7, 8 and 9. As per fares quoted as on 30 August, passengers will have to pay `63,099 for flying in the Dubai-Kochi sector on September 7 (non-stop) on Jet Airways. Meanwhile, the fare touched a record high of `1,63,061 for Jet Airways one-stop flight in the Riyadh-Kochi sector on September 8.
“The fares are set to go up further for passengers who purchase tickets in the last minute - on many routes, fares are expected to cross the `1 lakh mark,” according to travel agents. When the issue of exorbitant fares being charged in the Kerala-Gulf route was brought to the attention of the Civil Aviation Ministry, Minister Jayant Sinha said airlines set the fares driven by various market forces, which is a practice in the aviation industry globally.
01/09/16 Dhinesh Kallungal/New Indian Express
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