Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (DC)

Mangaluru, Aug 20: Since heavy rains and the massive landslides have blocked the roads on the entire ghat region, those heading towards Bengaluru are depending on flights.

As the airlines have been clearly taking advantage of the situation and the fares have gone up manifold, the travelers are lashing out at the agencies. The netizens have been slamming the airlines on Twitter for being so insensitive despite the people suffering from floods. The flight fares have gone up five fold.

Several netizens have tweeted Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayanth Sinha informing about the hike in fare.

Meanwhile, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Civil Aviation, government of India Suresh Prabhu reacted on Twitter and said that he has already ordered all the airlines not to hike the fares."I have directed the airlines not to hike fares for flights especially in flood affected Kerala and Mangaluru region.

"DGCA is constantly monitoring airfares on 32 direct routes operating to/from Trivandrum, Calicut, Coimbatore and Mangaluru. Monitoring done on Aug 18 has revealed that max. Fares on the shorter routes range from Rs3034 to Rs 8000 and Rs 4757 to around Rs 10000 for longer routes. Accordingly, airlines have been advised to cap the maximum fare around Rs. 10,000 for longer routes and around Rs. 8,000 for shorter routes to/from Kerala and nearby airports. Scheduled domestic airlines have also been advised to ensure that airfares for flights to/from Trivandrum and Calicut airports in Kerala and nearby airports i.e. Mangaluru and Coimbatore are kept at optimal level proportionate to sector distance," he tweeted.