Parliament Question: Passenger facilities, safety and regional connectivity

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. : 967 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 9th February 2026 PASSENGER FACILITIES, SAFETY AND REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY 967. DR. SANDEEP KUMAR PATHAK Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION be pleased to state:- (a) key factors responsible for the increase in air fares in the country during recent years, along with steps taken by Government to ensure affordable fare, details thereof; (b) number of regional airports and routes operationalised so far under the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) Scheme, along with the number out of these, currently being operated on a regular basis, details thereof; and (c) concrete, time-bound and accountable steps being undertaken to strengthen aircraft safety, maintenance standards and the oversight capacity of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), in order to ensure passenger safety and quality of service, the details thereof? ANSWER Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION (Shri Murlidhar Mohol) (a): Airfares are not subject to regulation by the Government and airlines have the flexibility to determine their airfares based on their operational needs, while adhering to Rule 135 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937. The pricing of airfares is subject to dynamic fluctuations influenced by the fundamental economic forces of supply and demand. Various determinants such as current seat occupancy, fuel costs, aircraft capacity, seasonal fluctuations and other relevant factors significantly impact airline ticket pricing. The Government generally refrains from regulating airfares to maintain market competitiveness, however, it remains vigilant and intervenes in exceptional circumstances by adopting measures like redistributing capacity across various sectors and imposing temporary fare caps, such as during Pandemic, Maha kumb, Pahalgam incident & recently massive Indigo flight disruptions.In order to enhance the transparency in airfare, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has set-up Tariff Monitoring Unit (TMU) that monitors airfares on selected 78 routes on a random basis by using airlines websites on monthly basis to ensure that the airlines do not charge airfares outside the range declared by them. This covers about 27% of the domestic traffic. (b): As on 20.01.2026, a total of 657 routes have been operationalised, connecting 93 unserved and underserved airports, including 15 heliports and 2 water aerodrome under the Regional Connectivity Scheme - Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN). Currently 15 airports namely Pathankot, Pakyong, Kushinagar, Aligarh, Azamgarh, Chitrakoot, Shravasti, Moradabad, Bhavnagar, Ambikapur, Ludhiana, Datia, Kalaburagi, Shimla and Cooch Behar are non-operational under the UDAN Scheme. (c): DGCA has a systematic safety oversight mechanism in place for monitoring the compliance of Rules and Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) encompassing all the aircraft and airport operators. The oversight process includes surveillances, spot checks and regulatory audits. The deficiencies observed during these audits are followed up with airlines for effective and corrective actions/closure. In case any violations/non-compliance to regulations is detected, enforcement actions are taken by DGCA. ******