Number of aircraft has actually increased after Jet Airways’ departure: Puri

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 27

Contrary to common perception, the number of aircraft in the Indian skies has actually increased after the Jet Airways wound up operations. 

Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri said after the private airline shut operations the number of aircraft in the Indian skies had increased. This is because every month 20 new aircraft are being added, he said. 

Meanwhile, to another query about the tendency of operators to charge higher fares during calamities like the recent cyclone in Odisha, he said fixing or rather limiting airfares at certain amounts could prove counterproductive.

“I am not ruling out the member’s suggestion but it is my apprehension that fixing a cap on the highest fare may result in the airline increasing the lowest fare,” he said responding to BJD member Pinaki Mishra. 

Puri said that normally fares for such routes ranged between Rs 5,000 and Rs 45,000. He said the fares on popular routes like the Delhi-Mumbai had averaged around Rs 5,000 and had not increased much in the past 10 years.