Cong attacks govt failure to stop ‘predatory behaviour’ by airlines

The Congress on Sunday stepped up its attack on the Centre over rising airfares, alleging that the government has been incapable of preventing “predatory behaviour” on part of airlines and has “facilitated a loot at the hands of crony airport operators”.

Senior Congress leader K C Venugopal and Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia engaged in a verbal duel on Twitter over the state of the aviation sector.

The government had last week asked airlines to devise a mechanism to ensure reasonable airfares amid a surge in air ticket prices, particularly on certain routes that were earlier served by grounded budget carrier Go First.

Venugopal on Saturday had said it was criminal to lift caps on airfares in August 2022 when the economy was in the “doldrums” and asked if the government has planned any “intervention” to ensure that consumers do not suffer.

Hitting back at Venugopal, Civil Aviation Minister Scindia in the wee hours of Sunday tweeted that even as the global economy continues to struggle, “ours continues to stand as a beacon of hope” with a growth rate of 6.0%6.5% in FY 202324. “That said, there is no reason that a deregulated sector like aviation should be put under government control – the repercussions of which have known to dent the growth potential of this sector in the past,” he said. Scindia said it’s important to note that a sector that was earlier ‘elitist’ has been truly democratised under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“We have doubled the number of airports, helipads and water aerodromes from 74 to 148. Domestic daily pax traffic has broken all past records. Connectivity has finally begun to reach the last mile, and soon India will emerge as an international civil aviation hub. Let’s get the facts right K C Vnugopalmp Ji!” he said. Slamming Scindia, Venugopal in another tweet Sunday said hard facts and everyday suffering of the middle class cannot be wished away by distorting figures and misrepresenting the actual facts on the ground.

The post Cong attacks govt failure to stop ‘predatory behaviour’ by airlines first appeared on IPA Newspack.