Air India has offered ‘rescue fares’ to passengers booked with Jet Airways and are unable to return from foreign countries. Jet had cancelled its flights and spot fares for alternate flights are exorbitant. Special fares on offer will be discounted fares for economy class travel.
Passengers from 13 cities — London, Paris, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh, Muscat, Abu Dhabi, Dhaka and Kathmandu — will benefit. The fares are available with immediate effect until April 28, Air India said in a statement.
Passengers must produce an e-ticket stamped by Jet Airways office to claim benefit. To address the shortfall in flights at Delhi and Mumbai, about 440 arrival and departure slots will be reallocated to various domestic carriers, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said.
The Ministry has set up a committee which will be tasked with redistributing the slots in a “rational, fair and equitable” manner to various airlines. The committee will include representatives of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and various airport operators.
The slots will be allocated on an interim basis for a period of three months. Jet Airways will be entitled to reclaim these slots as and when it is in a position to do so.
The senior official also said that various airlines have informed it that they will be inducting 30 aircraft in the next three months, which is expected to alleviate the shortfall of planes in the country to meet passenger demand.
The government has also appealed to the airlines not to indulge in predatory pricing and offer affordable fares to passengers.