As prices of India-UK tickets touch the skies
A Delhi-London economy class air ticket priced at Rs 4 lakh! Yes, that is the price tag for a Delhi-London British Airways flight for August 26. Following an outcry over the exorbitant hike in airfares by airlines after the United Kingdom (UK) allowed Indian travelers to enter the country, with certain conditions from Sunday, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked airlines to submit details of fares, they have been charging for India-UK flights in August.
A round trip between New Delhi and London by Air India in general cost somewhere between Rs 55,000 to Rs 70,000, but the prices skyrocketed just before August 8, the day the UK moved India from the ‘Red List’ to the ‘Amber List’, thus allowing Indian travellers to visit London.
On Saturday, Sanjeev Gupta, Secretary, Inter-State Council Secretariat, Union Home Ministry, had complained on Twitter that an economy class ticket on British Airways’ Delhi-London flight for August 26 was priced at Rs 3.95 lakh. He added that the economy class ticket on the Delhi-London flights of Vistara and Air India for August 26 was also priced between Rs 1.2 lakh and Rs 2.3 lakh amid the rush for college admissions in the UK. The relaxation from UK, too, has come at the time when huge traffic is expected on the Delhi-London route because of the admissions.
Officials of the DGCA said that it has asked the airlines that operate India-UK flights currently to submit details about their fares. According to officials, the data collected by the DGCA on Sunday shows the minimum one-way economy class fares on the Delhi-London nonstop flights during August. The fares range from Rs 1,03,191 to Rs 1,21,356 for Vistara and Rs 1,28,916 to Rs 1,47,544 for British Airways on different days this month. For Air India and Virgin Atlantic the minimum fare this month is Rs 1,15,936 and Rs 1,28,916, respectively.
Vistara, which currently operates flights on the Delhi-London as well as the Mumbai-London route, said on Sunday: “Pricing is always a function of supply and demand. There are only 15 flights a week allowed currently on the India-UK route for Indian carriers and when there is relaxation and more capacity allowed, it will automatically bring down prices.”
While there have been lower and upper limits on all domestic airfares in India since May 25 last year, no such limits have been imposed on international airfares.
The UK Government had earlier placed India on its ‘Red List’ barring Indians from travelling to the UK in the wake of the second wave of the pandemic in the country. Now that India has been moved to the ‘Amber List’, Indians are allowed to travel to the UK but will have to follow the home quarantine guidelines even if they are fully vaccinated as neither Covishield nor Covaxin is recognised by the UK authorities. But the relaxation will now ensure that students and professionals can travel to the UK and can quarantine at home or in any place of their stay. The airlines do not have an unlimited quota of flights between the UK and India which has pushed up the demand. Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 last year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
However, limited special international passenger flights have been operating since July 2020 under the air bubble arrangements formed with 28 countries, including the UK.
