Aviation Companies Face Criticism for High Airfares in India

New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI) During the recently concluded Maha Kumbh, airlines charged between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh for an air ticket, which should normally cost Rs 5,000, AAP MP Sandeep Kumar Pathak said in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, urging the government to regulate airfares.

Participating in a discussion on 'The Protection of Interest in Aircraft Objects Bill, 2025, Pathak said that aviation companies sought opportunities out of people's religious faith and increased the airfare for Maha Kumbh in a whimsical manner.

"It was the duty of the government to regulate it," Pathak said.

Almost all other members who participated in the discussion raised the indiscriminate increase in air tickets by the Indian aviation companies at various occasions with the objective to exploit passengers.

All India Trinamool Congress MP Prakash Chik Baraik, too, raised the air ticket price escalation during the Maha Kumbh and said while aviation companies charged Rs 50,000 for airfares, the government did not do anything to regulate it.

P Wilson, DMK MP from Tamil Nadu, said in just two years, airfare has gone up 40 per cent because aviation companies are manipulating demand, artificially creating scarcity and exploiting passengers for profit.

He said at times an air ticket between Chennai and Delhi costs Rs 70,000 and "it is a daylight robbery".

He added that the aviation companies charge Rs 8,000 for ticket cancellation but their seats and toilets are not maintained properly.

Ayodhya Rami Reddy Alla, Andhra Pradesh MP from YSRCP, too, joined the chorus, demanding rationalisation of air travel cost.

Even BJP MP Seema Dwivedi, while heaping praise on the government for its achievements in the aviation sector, said, "Sometimes airfare goes up a little bit. I don't know the circumstances due to which it happens but sometimes a minor increase in airfare is there."

"I request the Hon'ble Minister to see what are the reasons for it. I know your intentions are very good and you will definitely control it," she added.