Aviation Ministry issues clarification on sky-high India-UK trip fares; 'No proven basis'

As reports of airfares of India-UK trips reaching sky-high prices started doing the rounds, the Ministry of civil aviation on Monday issued a clarification. In the said clarification, the Ministry underlined that the reports claiming that the on-way economic tickets of India-UK have touched 4-lakh have 'no proven basis'. 

Civil Aviation Ministry issues clarification 

"There are media reports claiming India-UK one-way economy class fares have touched Rs. 4 lakhs. These reports have no proven basis," the Ministry stated in a clarification tweet, outlining that the veracity of Sanjeev Gupta’s claim has been thoroughly checked by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). 

The Secretary of the Inter-State Council Secretariat in the Union Home Ministry, taking to his official Twitter handle, had alerted the Ministry in regards to the astoundingly high prices of the India-United Kingdom air tickets. Sharing screenshots, Sanjeev Gupta had stated, "Fare of ₹ 3.95 lakh one-way Delhi to London on Aug 26. No, it's not 1st class. It is economy on British Airways." He added, "Air India, Vistara, etc. also 1.2 to 2.3 lakh. College admission time! See minimum fare on GoogleTravel in August." The Secretary added that he has "alerted" P S Kharola, Union Civil Aviation Secretary regarding the matter, and concluded the tweet tagging the Civil Aviation Ministry and its Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. 

With respect to the same, the Ministry issued another clarification tweet that read, "The fares offered on the Delhi-London sector (Economy class) range from 1.03-1.21 lakhs for Indian carriers and 1.28-1.47 lakhs for UK carriers for travel during August 2021."

This comes after the United Kingdom transferred India from its 'red' to its 'amber list', which means fully vaccinated travelers from India will no longer have to go under mandatory 10-day hotel quarantine."The UAE, Qatar, India, and Bahrain will be moved from the red list to the amber list,"  UK transport secretary Grant Shapps announced on Twitter, underlining that it will come to effect from 4 am on August 8.