India capped airline fares on Saturday as hundreds of passengers gathered outside Bengaluru and Mumbai airports after 385 IndiGo flights were cancelled on the fifth day of a crisis that has hit the country's biggest airline.
Air travel across India has been in turmoil this week after IndiGo cancelled thousands of flights, prompting the government to announce special relief for the carrier and the operation of additional trains to help clear the backlog.
The spate of IndiGo cancellations led to a big jump in fares at other airlines on popular routes, and the government said it was capping fares to maintain pricing discipline in the market. It did not share details on what the caps would be.
"The Ministry will continue to closely monitor fare levels through real-time data and active coordination with airlines," the Indian government said.
Fares were last capped during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The flight cancellations are the biggest crisis ever for 20-year-old IndiGo, which has prided itself for on-time performance and lured passengers with low-cost fares.
'WAITING FOR MY LUGGAGE'
IndiGo has admitted it failed to plan properly ahead of a November 1 deadline to implement stricter rules on night flying and weekly rest for pilots, ultimately leading to scheduling problems this week.
On Friday, more than 1,000 IndiGo flights were cancelled. After the government announced the exemptions to the rules for IndiGo, the airline said it could return to normal operations between December 10-15.
The Delhi airport in a post on X on Saturday said flight operations are steadily resuming, but that some IndiGo flights continue to be affected.
Airport sources told Reuters that IndiGo cancelled 124 flights in Bengaluru on Saturday, 109 in Mumbai, 86 in New Delhi and 66 in Hyderabad.
Hundreds of passengers gathered outside Bengaluru and Mumbai airports on Saturday, some unaware of the cancellations, according to Reuters photographers at the scene.
Satish Konde had to catch a connecting flight from Mumbai to the western city of Nagpur and had checked in, but he was later told it was cancelled.
"I am waiting for my luggage to be returned," he told Reuters.
Other major Indian airlines, including Air India and Akasa, have not had to cancel flights due to the new rules.
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