DGCA finds budget and full-service airlines charging similar amount from flyers

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said that the money charged by full-service airlines in India and budget carriers are almost linear. 

What this means is that the amount paid by a flyer on a budget airline like SpiceJet is similar to the one at Jet Airways where you get complimentary meal on-board. 

DGCA said, "The average airfare for all the scheduled domestic airlines is found to be almost linear which is due to the competition prevailing on the sectors."

A full-service carrier like Air India and Jet Airways where flyers get meals on-board whereas on budget airlines like IndiGo, Spicejet, GoAir, etc, one has to pay for meals. 

The analysis was done on the quarterly periods between January to December 2014 with an objective to see the seasonal trends of airfare. 

The authority further said that the the lowest and highest fares offered by scheduled domestic airlines (in economy class) on select domestic sectors were analysed during each quarter of the year 2014.

"As a one time analysis, scheduled domestic airlines were asked to provide details of route-wise revenue generated on these fares so as to ascertain trend of airline-wise airfares during this period on different markets and the industry average," DGCA said. 

It concluded the study by stating, "The average fare is closer to the minimum fare being offered by the airlines indicating that most of the tickets sold by the airlines are not at exorbitant price."