Kerala floods update: Airfares within limits specified: Civil aviation ministry

The maximum airfares for direct flights to Kerala and nearby airports have remained within the limits specified by aviation regulator DGCA, according to the civil aviation ministry.

Providing an update on the relief measures initiated to help flood-ravaged Kerala, the ministry today said the DGCA has permitted three helicopter services providers to carry out aerial dropping of flood relief material, following request from the Kerala government. The entities are Pawan Hans Helicopters, Ghodawat and Devengere.

Commercial flight services commenced from Kochi naval air station today with Alliance Air operating four flights as the main aerodrome in Kochi is shut till August 26. Besides, no-frills airline IndiGo will start operations from the naval base from tomorrow.

A senior official at the civil aviation ministry said that Jet Airways is also planning to start operations from the naval base.

"Monitoring of airfare carried out on Aug 20, 2018 has revealed that maximum fares on various domestic non-stop direct routes to/from Kerala and nearby airports remained within the limits specified by DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation)," the ministry said in a release.

In an interview to PTI today, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said the DGCA is monitoring airfares for flights connecting flood-hit Kerala but it should not be seen by airlines as micro-management by the government as this is a unique situation of 'humanitarian crisis'.

Amid concerns raised by many including on social media platforms about steep fluctuations in air ticket prices to and from Kerala, the minister said the ministry as such cannot interfere with the fares but it is "doing it" in this time of crisis.

Alliance Air, part of Air India group, has commenced scheduled air services to/from Kochi naval air station -- INS Garuda -- with ATR-72 aircraft.

An Air India official said around 256 passengers were carried by the four Alliance Air flights.

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It operated two flights on Bengaluru-Cochin-Bengaluru route, one in Chennnai-Trichy-Cochin-Chennai route and another in Hyderabad-Bengaluru-Cochin-Hyderabad route.

In a statement today, IndiGo said it would continue to operate eight round-trip relief flights from Kozhikode, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Trivandrum.

This will be in addition to "flying three daily additional relief flights (round trip) from Kochi naval base effective August 21, 2018 to August 26, 2018", it added.

With heavy rains pounding the state, more than 200 people have lost their lives and over 7.24 lakh people are still sheltered in relief camps due to floods and landslips.

Last week, aviation regulator DGCA asked scheduled domestic airlines to mount additional flights in view of the closure of the Cochin airport.