New Delhi, Virtually ruling out the possibility of capping airfares, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Tuesday said there should be a balanced approach to ensure that air ticket prices remain reasonable and airline business also does not turn unviable.
Acknowledging that airfare is a very contentious topic of discussion, the minister also asserted that the government will take action in case there are any malpractices with respect to pricing of air tickets.
He made the remarks in the Rajya Sabha while replying to the discussion on the Protection of Interests in Aircraft Objects Bill, 2025. The bill was later passed by the Upper House.
“When it comes to airfares it is a work in progress and a lot of things need to come into place… so capping the airfares and trying to have a one-stop approach is not followed by any country,” Naidu said.
Elaborating further, the minister said if one tries to break down the airfare itself, there will be hundreds of things which affect the prices, including ATF cost and leasing charges.
“We are trying to have dynamic airfare pricing, and definitely inside that if there is anything, for which malpractices are there, misusing or misutilisation or taking advantage of the market is there, definitely the ministry of civil aviation is going to take necessary actions. We are going to ensure those kinds of situations do not arise,” he said.
Emphasising the need for a balanced approach, he said all airlines are in the negative except IndiGo and so it is important to see that the airlines also perform.
“If you make it unviable for airlines, if they go bankrupt… important to see how collectively we can grow so that the airfares are also reasonable, air travel continuously grows and the industry creates a lot of jobs for the youth,” Naidu said.
He also spoke on various other issues raised by members in his reply. On establishment of an airport in Warangal, Telangana, he said, “With the support of state government we were able to grant the site clearance and very soon we are going to start the work in Warangal airport also and very soon we plan on building one of the best airports in the country in Warangal”.
Naidu also responded to requests made by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as well as several members of Parliament of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for a Point of Call at the Kannur Airport in the state. He said he will definitely look into it, adding, however, that the government wants Indian airports function as hubs.
“Kerala CM to members in RS, LS have been asking for Point of Call from Kannur Airport,” the minister said. Asserting that Kerala is the only state where there are three airports which have Point of Call, including Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Calicut, he informed that there are many similar requests from other states also.
“Point of Call definitely we will look into it but there has to be a balanced approach for all states,” he said, adding, “We want to have our own Indian airports function as hubs. Now you see in the Gulf, Singapore, Turkey, all these countries, they are trying to grow their own airports at the cost of our Indian airports.
They are trying to take the passenger traffic from here, take them to their own countries and from there they are trying to connect to the whole world. What we want to see is India have its own hubs in the country itself so that they can also flourish”.
The minister said there was a need to have a very balanced approach when we think about giving the Point of Call for a new destination. “But I agree to the demand because this is a demand which has been there across the country and we are going to see what best we can do.”
The minister also highlighted the need for second airports in metropolitan cities across the country. “We have come to that stage where all the metropolitan cities Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, all these require second airports. We have come to that stage where all the metropolitan cities are getting saturated and they require new airports.”
On UDAN scheme, Naidu informed that the government wants to link 120 new destinations to it and make four crore people travel under the scheme. “So from 2026 to 2036, we are going to see an expanded UDAN scheme through which we want to build 120 new destinations in the country. We want to make 4 crore people travel under the UDAN scheme…”
On the debate regarding the prices of essentials like food, tea, coffee and water in airports, the minister said after Kolkata, UDAN Yatri cafes will start in eight more airports across the country, adding that the government wants to start them in all airports throughout India.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.