Among the Indian domestic carriers, only Vistara has premium economy class seats in its flights. Domestic passenger services resumed in India on May 25 after nearly two months of suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic situation.

Modifying its May 21 order, the MoCA in its October 5 communication stated, “The fares indicated... are not applicable for business class and premium economy class. However, in premium economy class, the lower fare band would be applicable.” The ministry had on May 21 said that there would be seven bands of ticket pricing with lower and upper fare limits based on flight duration.

The first such band consists of flights that are of less than 40 minutes duration. The lower and the upper fare limits for the first band is Rs 2,000 and Rs 6,000, respectively. The subsequent bands are for flights with durations of 40-60 minutes, 60-90 minutes, 90-120 minutes, 120-150 minutes, 150-180 minutes and 180-210 minutes.

The lower and upper limits for these bands are: Rs 2,500-Rs 7,500; Rs 3,000-Rs 9,000; Rs 3,500-Rs 10,000; Rs 4,500-Rs 13,000; Rs 5,500-Rs 15,700 and Rs 6,500-Rs 18,600, respectively, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.

The aviation ministry had made it clear that each airline would sell at least 40 per cent of its tickets on a flight at prices less than the midpoint between the lower limit and upper limit. It had imposed the fare limits to make sure that passengers were not charged beyond a certain limit amid the pandemic and to avoid predatory pricing given the financially-stressed status of the airlines.