Hardeep Singh Puri Joins 'Pawri' Club, Tells Why it's Celebration Time for Aviation But Not for Indians

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday joined the ‘Pawri’ club, but not while sharing a meme. He warned of the rising Covid-19 cases in many regions of the country, but informed how after months of meagre flights and passengers, the number of domestic fliers was now holding steady.

“With rising COVID-19 cases in some regions necessitating restrictions and imposition of compulsory RT-PCR tests, it’s not yet time to #pawri. But number of domestic fliers is holding steady. 2,47,037 fliers on 2330 flights on 19 March 2021. More than 26.3 million fliers since 25 May,” he said on Twitter.

Rising Covid-19 cases have resulted in lockdowns, partial and full, in many regions of the country – Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, to name a few.

Meanwhile, reports have said that the central government has again altered the fare band set initially during the lockdown on the domestic flights to cap flight prices.

In its latest alteration, the government has hiked the minimum fare band by 5 percent. In February, the Centre increased the limit on the minimum and maximum price band by 10% and 30% respectively. The price capping was put on domestic flight operators to keep the ticket prices in check due to the limited number of flights. The price capping was put in place on May 25 when domestic flights were restarted in a calibrated manner.

On May 21, the aviation regulator DGCA issued the government-decided fare limits for these bands — domestic flights with less than 40-minute duration to have lower and upper limits of Rs 2,000 and Rs 6,000, for 40-60 minutes Rs 2,500 and Rs 7,500, for 60-90 minutes Rs 3,000 and Rs 9,000, for 90-120 minutes Rs 3,500 and Rs 10,000, for 120-150 minutes Rs 4,500 and Rs 13,000, for 150-180 minutes Rs 5,500 and Rs 15,700 and for 180-210 minutes Rs 6,500 and Rs 18,600.

As per the previous hike, the upper price band on 180-210 minute flight which was earlier capped at Rs 18,600 was increased by 30% to Rs 24,200, an increase of Rs 5,600. Now as per the new hike, the lower price band is increased 5 percent over the previous hike. The previous hike increased the minimum price from Rs 6,500 to Rs 7,150. Now with the increase of 5 percent, the prices will start at Rs 7500.

Emphasising that capping of airfares was an “extraordinary measure”, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri earlier said the price bands are expected to be done away with once flight services reach pre-COVID-19 levels. Replying to questions in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said the civil aviation sector was completely closed down on March 23, 2020, and was reopened on May 25 in a slow and calibrated manner by putting in place SOPs, provisions for seamless contactless travel and a large number of other measures.

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