Society | Nepalis suffer as international airlines jack up airfares

The Civil Aviation Authority has formed a committee to recommend possible actions against airliners charging passengers exorbitantly citing the Covid-19 pandemic and various restrictions on mobility.

The five-member committee, led by Director-General Rajan Pokharel, was formed to look into prevailing legal provisions to take action against such airlines as the law against profiteering and black marketing was found to lack teeth in such matters.

“After we receive a report from the committee, we can decide the course of action against airlines that are fleecing passengers,” says an official at the authority requesting anonymity.

Following the emergence of the second wave of Covid-19 infections in Nepal and India, international airlines have considerably reduced the frequency of flights to the region. With passengers competing for limited seats, the airlines have hiked fares on almost all routes, says Sudhir Upadhyaya, general secretary at Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents.

Although prevailing laws outlaw profiteering on domestic routes, they can’t be used against international airlines, the official says, adding that the committee may recommend new laws to deal with the issue. International flights tickets are booked on the concerned airlines’ global ticketing system—this means passengers from all over the world compete for a seat on the plane.

According to passengers and ticketing agents, a return ticket to Australia could be bought for around Rs 80,000 until a few months ago. But the fare has now gone up to over Rs 120,000. Fares have also been increased for tickets to the Gulf, US, and Europe. Migrant workers spend more than a month of their salary to buy a ticket home or return to work. Students going abroad have also been affected as they face a tight deadline to join their universities.

Says Pokharel, “As of now, we don’t have concrete laws against profiteering in the airline business.”

The issue of exorbitant ticket prices has been a topic of discussion among officials from CAAN, the city police, and even the Ministry of Home Affairs. All the agencies have received complaints about expensive international flight tickets. “We will write to the Home Ministry on the committee’s recommendations when we finalize the report,” says Pokharel. 

Twenty-three people have so far filed complaints against various airlines for overcharging. The committee, which will also look at the complaints, has been busy discussing the issue with airline operators, ticketing agents, experts, and foreign employment recruitment agencies.

Critics argue that it might be too late until the committee prepares its recommendations and new laws are formulated. Until then,  Nepali passengers will have to continue shelling out a lot of money for international travel.