Bhubaneswar: The price of a last-minute, one-way flight from Mumbai to Bhubaneswar was reported to have reached an unprecedented peak of Rs 84,485, making it one of the most expensive domestic airfares recorded on a non-business class route amid the ongoing aviation crisis. The exorbitant fare was a direct result of the massive operational disruptions and flight cancellations affecting a major domestic carrier, which severely constrained the available seating capacity across key routes.
This record price point for the Mumbai-Bhubaneswar sector highlighted the severe extent of the opportunistic pricing that passengers were facing. For context, the distance between Mumbai and Bhubaneswar falls into the category of above 1,500 km, for which the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA) has now fixed a maximum fare cap of Rs 18,000, excluding taxes.
The surge was not isolated to this route. Before the government’s intervention, equally shocking prices were reported elsewhere: a Kolkata-Mumbai one-way ticket was reported to have touched Rs 90,000, and Delhi-Chennai and Delhi-Bengaluru routes saw fares exceeding Rs 80,000.
The central government, acknowledging the financial distress caused to passengers, quickly moved to implement temporary fare ceilings on December 6. The Ministry of Civil Aviation issued a directive mandating maximum prices based on the flight’s stage length, effectively bringing an immediate halt to the extreme price gouging witnessed in the days prior. Officials stated that continuous monitoring would be undertaken to ensure airlines adhere to the new price limits and to encourage the deployment of additional capacity to stabilise the market.