Pay more for air tickets for the sake of new RCS

Contributing to the government-initiated Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), Air India has started charging an additional fee of Rs 70 to the passengers.

The levy will be charged on the basis of the total seats and not on the basis of the seats they are managing to fill. However, there will be an exemption for the fee if the flights are commuting in the North-East region and Jammu & Kashmir, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep routes.

The funds generated through this levy will be channelled to stimulate growth in the sector and also to make regional connectivity affordable. This will also help the state-run airport developer, Airports Authority of India, to fund projects for reviving existing air-strips and airports of the un-served and under-served regions of the country.

The government is charging a levy of Rs 7500 per flight commuting up to 1000 km, for distance between 1000–1500 km, the levy will be of Rs 8000 per flight, and for flights above 1500 km, Rs 8500 will be charged. This levy will be charged even if the seats are not occupied, as it is based on total seats in the aircraft.

The proposed UDAN scheme announced in October for regional connectivity will also keep the flight tickets affordable by providing a subsidised pricing for up to 40 seats and 50 per cent seats on market-based pricing.

This scheme will ensure domestic ticketing to reach 30 crore by 2022 and 50 crore by 2027, which will eventually contribute to the growth of the entire aviation sector.