Domestic carriers fleecing travellers

Air travellers have reiterated their demand for more domestic flights between Trichy and Chennai in the backdrop of the skyrocketing fares in this sector despite the high demand. They alleged that with only four services being operated by two carriers, exorbitant fares were being fixed by the carriers.

As of now, Jet Airways operates three flights in the Trichy - Chennai sector while Alliance Air flies one. The fares on all the three Jet Airways flights from Trichy to Chennai crossed Rs 20,000 on January 22, according to M S Paramasivam of Lakshmi Travels. He alleged that the low number of flights was encouraging domestic flight operators to fix exorbitant fares. However, Jet Airways said that the fare above Rs 20,000 on January 22 was for last-minute purchase of tickets. The lowest fare that day was Rs 3,300 and for the next 20 seats it was Rs 4,250.

Federation of Consumer and Service Organizations, Trichy, points out that the four services do not match the ever-increasing patronage from Trichy airport. At a time when the number of flights operated to overseas destinations was touching 100, the domestic connectivity from Trichy had been left way behind. "Trichy airport definitely needs additional flights to Chennai besides Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi," said V B Jaganath, federation member.

Source