With the holiday and festive season approaching, many people are frantically booking their flight tickets for their hometowns. As per a recent draft by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the flight ticket charges for small towns are expected to be hiked soon.
According to a new announcement, flying to and from small-town airports will now cost more than before as the government has now proposed a steep price hike in the charges of small airports, which will now result in more expensive flight tickets.
The latest draft issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation suggests a hike in the prices of landing and parking fees for aircraft by 30 percent and increasing user development fees by four times, which means that the flights to and from small towns can get around 30 percent more expensive.
If the new charges for these smaller flights are approved by the government, the prices of flight tickets will get significantly more expensive, having an impact on around 3.5 million commuters. It must be noted that this will be applicable for all UDAN flights if the order is approved.
The draft by the Civil Aviation Ministry has split the airports which can experience a price hike into three main clusters –
- Cluster 1: 13 airports that cater to 1 million and more passengers a year
- Cluster 2: 32 airports that cater to 0.1 to 1 million passengers a year
- Cluster 3: 32 airports that cater to less than 0.1 million passengers a year
The stakeholders of the airports and flights are expected to submit their suggestions to the ministry by Tuesday, February 28, after which the final decision on the hike in the prices of the flight tickets will finally be implemented.
While the prices of flights may be more expensive soon, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman talked about increasing connectivity through air travel during the Budget Session 2023, announcing 50 additional airports in India.
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