Airfares cheaper than auto-rickshaw ride: Aviation minister Jayant Sinha

Union Minister Jayant Sinha has said that cost of travelling by air is cheaper than taking a ride in auto-rickshaw. Explaining the math behind that, Union Civil Aviation minister said that an auto rickshaw ride costs a customer Rs 5/km but an air flight costs around Rs 4/km.

"Today, airfare is less than that of an auto-rickshaw. You'll ask how is that possible? When two people take an auto-rickshaw they pay fare of Rs. 10 which means they're charged Rs. 5/km but when you go by air you are charged Rs. 4/km," Sinha said.



Later clarifying his statement, Sinha said he made the comparison to demonstrate how affordable Indian air fares are. "So on a per km basis our air fare is among lowest in the world. I am not implying you use planes for short distances, that's not the point of the comparison, it's just to be able to demonstrate how affordable our air fares are," Sinha said.


India is the fastest-growing domestic aviation market in the world, but airlines have struggled to stay profitable despite filling nearly 90 percent of seats and seeing a double digits growth in domestic passenger traffic for more than 50 months in a row.

Airfares in India are lowest across the globe that is making low cost airlines bleed. According to a recent report by aviation consulting firm CAPA India, Indian airlines are expected to post combined losses of up to $1.9 billion this financial year led by Air India and Jet Airways driven by rising costs and low air fares.

Ticket prices have not risen to compensate for higher costs, and CAPA said with the exception of IndiGo, none of the airlines have strong enough balance sheets to comfortably withstand higher costs and lower yields.

Jet Airways last month reported a quarterly loss of Rs 1,323 crore and said it was seeking to cut costs, inject capital and monetise its frequent flyer programme.

Budget carrier IndiGo, the country's largest airline, in July reported its lowest quarterly profit in three years, with earnings down 97 percent due to rising fuel costs and foreign exchange losses.

(Inputs from Reuters, ANI)