The Civil Aviation Ministry on Thursday announced a cap on domestic flight fares and issued seven bands of ticket pricing with lower and upper fare limits. The first such band will consist 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 would be 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 DGCA said. 

Unveiling a set of detailed pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight guidelines on Thursday, the civil aviation ministry advised people vulnerable like the elderly, pregnant women and passengers battling health issues to avoid air travel till the coronavirus pandemic abates.

All passengers will have to provide their medical details through the Aarogya Setu app or by filling up a self-declaration form, while those residing in containment zones will not be allowed to travel, the ministry added.

Noting that all stakeholders such as airlines, airports have cooperated, Puri said, "Operations will start on 1/3 of the approved Summer schedule for domestic routes in a calibrated manner from May 25 and will be scaled up gradually. After domestic travel has been eased, we will address the issue of international travel depending on the evolving situation."

The minister said social distancing norms will not be implemented even if middle seats are kept vacant on flights. "Therefore, we have decided not to keep middle seats vacant," he said.

After a two-month hiatus, one-third of the scheduled domestic flights would be flying from May 25 after the airlines adhere to the government-prescribed limits on airfares categorised in seven bands based on flight duration.