Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu speaks in the Lok Sabha during the winter session of Parliament in New Delhi on December 12, 2025. | Photo credit: ANI
Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Friday (Dec 12, 2025) told the Lok Sabha that the Center can step in and regulate ticket prices in extraordinary circumstances, but cannot impose caps throughout the year as prices depend on demand and supply in particular seasons.
Mr. Naidu was responding to a private member’s resolution on air ticket regulation moved by Congress member Shafi Paramabil. His comments came amid a sudden hike in ticket prices following the mass cancellation of IndiGo flights over the past 10 days.
“When the festive season comes, demand goes up in certain places. In Kerala, it happens during Onam and Christmas. There is a particular period when people working in the Persian Gulf want to go home. Travel to Kolkata sees an increase during Durga Puja and Diwali. In the entire northern sector, demand goes up during Chhath Puja as people travel to Bihar. All this is not for a specific period.” he said.
“It is important to understand the demand and supply in the market. They kind of regulate the fares themselves,” the minister added. He said Indian carriers have orders for 1,700 aircraft, but it is taking time because a limited number of manufacturers are supplying aircraft worldwide.
He said the government intervenes when it feels the need to do so and cited the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mahakumbh at Prayagraj and the recent IndiGo crisis as examples of times when such intervention is necessary.
However, Lok Sabha members across party lines spoke about the need to regulate fares. Congress’s Varsha Eknath Gaikwad said “one airline has been allowed to indulge in a mahaloot”, referring to the recent mass flight cancellation crisis.
Samajwadi Party MP Ramashankar Rajbhar said airlines not only routinely resort to price hikes during festive seasons but also do not spare people even in times of crisis.
Trinamool MP Saugato Roy and Congress’s Manickam Tagore referred to the IndiGo crisis and asked the government to take strict action.
Published – 12 Dec 2025 20:42 IST
