The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) put its earlier order mandating 60% free flight seats on hold, following concerns raised by airlines over its operational and commercial impact. A notification was issued on Thursday, in which the MoCA mentioned that it had reviewed its March order after representations were made by the Federation of Indian Airlines and Akasa Air. The airlines highlighted the impact of this order on their flight operations, including its potential impact on fare structures and consistency with the prevailing deregulated tariff regime.” Based on the above issues highlighted by various airlines, the said that the order on free seats – which would have been implemented starting April 20 – was being kept on hold.
Before the issuance of the order by the Centre, 20% of the seats could be booked for free, while the rest were paid. The cost of seat selection varied on various factors such as, the row they were in and the leg room that would be available. The cost would be anywhere in between Rs 200 and Rs 2,100. The airlines warned of hiking the airfares to recover the lost revenue. Currently, the operational cost of airlines has also risen because of war in the Middle East, which has led to an increase in the price of aviation turbine fuel, or ATF.
However, the Ministry asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to continue enforcing other passenger facilitation measures outlined in the earlier directive, including transparency in seat allocation, co-seating of passengers on the same PNR, carriage of musical instruments, sports equipment and pets, and clear disclosure of applicable charges.
