Vijay Mallya defends airfare hike

Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya on Saturday defended Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel?s dissatisfaction over exorbitant airfares, and said Indian operators are following pricing that are followed across the world.

?There has been no unjust increase in airfares. Bandwidth pricing followed across the world. We too are following that. After all, airlines are commercial commodities,? Mallya told reporters.

Meanwhile, the same day (Saturday), Patel said steps will be taken against airfare hike within a week.

?Within a week you will find corrective actions are being taken. The regulation (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) is not helpless. It?s not right to presume that we are not aware of anything. The situation is being monitored,? Patel said.

On Friday too, Patel reiterated his discontent over air prices and said he Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is unsatisfied with the inflated airfares and that the airlines cannot charges fares at their will.

?The exorbitant hike in airfares has caused inconvenience to passengers. Now that the aviation sector is back on high growth track, corrective action must be taken immediately,? Patel said at a press conference.

?Airlines cannot charge fares at will,” he said.

He further said airlines can?t act against the ?spirit of liberalization?.

“We don’t expect airlines to act against the spirit of liberalization. DGCA is not satisfied with the response from most airlines on airfares range.

?We want to know from airlines more transparently and most definitely what will they charge. DGCA is not an authority to dictate fares but we are not helpless against high fares,” Patel said.

According to DGCA sources, fares of most airlines have shot up at least 25% after Diwali.

Meanwhile, the DGCA has asked the airlines to regularly publish fares they are charging for all sectors on their websites and newspapers.