NEW DELHI:  With air fares surging in the wake Boeing Max aircraft being grounded, civil aviation regulator DGCA said on Wednesday that it would monitor prices on a daily basis to check predatory pricing. Fares shot up on Wednesday with Delhi-Mumbai one-way ticket quoting Rs18,285 as starting price. Other metro routes such as Delhi-Bengaluru, Delhi-Chennai and Delhi- Kolkata were also highly expensive. 

Experts say prices will only go up in the coming days due to shortage of flights. Daniel D’Souza, president and country head - leisure at SOTC Travel, expects spot fares to be 60 per cent more expensive in the coming days.IndiGo and Jet Airways were already running below capacity; grounding of Boeing 737 added to the shortage, triggering surge price in key routes. 

SpiceJet, which has 12 Boeing 737 planes, cancelled 14 flights on Wednesday. 
As many as  35 flights are likely to be affected on Thursday, according to Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola.As a contingency measure, SpiceJet will operate additional flights. “Of the 76 planes in our fleet, 64 aircraft are in operation and we are confident of minimising the inconvenience to our passengers,” it said.