Pune: Union minister of state of civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol on Wednesday said the ministry is considering to cap exorbitant fares of special flights meant for repatriation from West Asian countries to India.Speaking on the sidelines of a corporate social responsibility event organised by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), he said, “We are collecting information on the matter at the moment and a special section within the ministry is working on it. Whatever is happening is wrong and will be rectified.”Mohol didn’t provide a timeline to when the cap would come into effect and other related details. However, he said the same approach would be taken regarding Air India’s announcement on Tuesday to levy fuel surcharge of Rs399 on domestic flights.Citizens desperate to return to India have raised concerns regarding astronomical fares charged ever since airlines like SpiceJet, IndiGo and Air India started to operate special repatriation flights from different countries in West Asia.Mohol mentioned how the ministry had controlled airfares for people wanting to leave Kashmir after the Pahalgam terror attack, last year.Bibvewadi resident Kiran Oswal, who was stuck in UAE and reached Mumbai from Fujairah last Wednesday, said he had to pay Rs41,000 a ticket. NIBM Road resident Vinod Solanki was forced to book seats on a chartered flight for six of his family members and spent over Rs4 lakh. On an airline’s website, a trip for one person from Jeddah to Mumbai for March 20 shows SAR (Saudi Arabian Riyal) 4,200, which equals to Rs1 lakh.People who have returned safely and families of citizens struggling to get out of West Asia said the cap needed to be put into effect immediately. “It should have been applicable by now. Why has the aviation ministry not taken steps already? Many were forced to pay large amounts of money as fares to return home,” said a city-based family that came back last week after spending around Rs2 lakh for four tickets.Earlier, travel company representatives had demanded that during extreme circumstances, such a cap should come into effect by default and a rule should to be formulated on the same.Rs10k-crore to be spent over next 2 years to strengthen navigational systems: AAI chairmanAAI chairman Vipin Kumar said at the event that the authority would develop navigational systems of global levels across the country. “We will spend Rs10,000 crore over the next two years on air traffic control towers at airports and other equipment,” the official said.“The focus is to be an international hub of aviation by 2047 — as the PM has emphasised. We will have 50 more airports by 2029. We have requested for 300 acre land for Pune airport and are coordinating with the state govt towards its expansion. If it happens, runways will be extended,” he said, adding that the total number of airports was 164, at present, and would reach 350 by 2047.
