Bhopal Bureau
Summary: Festive-season airfares have surged to several times their normal levels, prompting a Madhya Pradesh traders’ body to demand a fare cap from the Centre, while the Supreme Court has declined an urgent hearing in the matter. Fares recorded on routes connected to Bhopal show how sharply festive travel costs have risen for ordinary families.
Festive travel in India always brings the same tension: the desire to reach home for Diwali, Bhai Dooj and Chhath, and ticket prices that climb steeply at exactly that moment. Trains fill up weeks in advance and bus fares also rise. Flying then becomes the last option for many families, but it is also the option whose price moves the most. The issue is now being argued on three fronts at once: a traders’ demand for a cap, a public interest case in the Supreme Court, and a new set of aviation rules that will take effect from 1 January 2027.
What the traders’ body has demanded
The Madhya Pradesh unit of the Confederation of All India Traders has raised concern over steep increases in airfares during festivals and holidays and has urged the Centre to impose a maximum fare limit. According to the traders’ body, ticket prices on flights connecting major cities such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata with Madhya Pradesh have risen five to 10 times. The body has said that airlines generally raise fares five to seven times during festivals compared with normal days, and in some cases by eight to 10 times. These figures are the traders’ body’s claims, put forward in support of its demand for a cap.
The body has written to the Union Civil Aviation Minister seeking immediate intervention to curb what it calls arbitrary fare hikes by airlines and to introduce a fare-capping mechanism. The demand has been pursued by the body’s Bhopal district president and Madhya Pradesh media in-charge, Dharmendra Sharma. The traders’ argument is straightforward: travelling home for a festival is a family necessity, not a luxury, and there should be a transparent system that prevents prices from spiralling during peak travel periods.
What fares on Bhopal-connected routes looked like
A picture of fares on Bhopal-connected routes comes from a report dated 31 October. According to the fares recorded in that report, Mumbai to Bhopal ranged from Rs 15,353 to Rs 27,799, while Bengaluru to Bhopal ranged from Rs 14,968 to Rs 28,573. Pune to Bhopal was around Rs 16,286, Hyderabad to Bhopal ranged from Rs 15,684 to Rs 24,338, Ahmedabad to Bhopal ranged from Rs 19,292 to Rs 28,652, and Delhi to Bhopal ranged from Rs 9,541 to Rs 18,881.
The contrast with normal days is sharp. The same report noted that Pune to Bhopal ordinarily costs around Rs 7,000, but had already reached about Rs 14,000 in October, roughly double the usual fare. Buses were no cheaper for festive travellers: travelling to Bhopal by bus was reported to cost up to Rs 10,000 to Rs 11,000. It is important to note that these are fares recorded in the 31 October report, not live fares today. Airfares change with demand, seat availability and the timing of booking, so any traveller should check the current fare before booking.
What happened in the Supreme Court
A public interest litigation challenging algorithm-based dynamic pricing, steep last-minute fare increases and ancillary charges is already pending before the Supreme Court. The petition seeks a mechanism to cap domestic airfares during festival periods and the restoration of the free checked baggage allowance in economy class from the present 15 kg to 25 kg.
On Monday, 2 November, an interim application in that case sought an urgent listing, asking for interim directions to cap fares during the current festive season and the year-end festive season. The application came up before a bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Aparesh Singh. The bench declined to list the matter urgently. Justice Nath remarked that if fares were too high, passengers could choose not to travel by air, and then moved on to the next case.
The refusal of an urgent listing is not a dismissal of the case on its merits. The main public interest litigation is listed for hearing on 16 November 2026. What was refused was only immediate interim relief for the current festive season. An oral remark in court is not a final finding, but the remark has nevertheless intensified the debate over festive fares.
The petitioner’s case: a surge of up to 700 per cent claimed
Counsel for the petitioner argued that airfares had increased to 700 per cent of normal fares and that air travel, being an essential service, made such a hike a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution. The application said fares on several major domestic routes had risen to between two and seven times their ordinary levels ahead of Diwali. As an example, it cited the Delhi-Kolkata route, where a fare ordinarily costing Rs 10,000 to Rs 11,000 was said to have reached Rs 78,694 for travel on 6 November. These figures are claims made in the petition, as reported, and not findings of the court.
The petition also argued that confirmed train tickets for festival dates sell out weeks in advance, leaving flying as the only option for many families. Its case against dynamic pricing is about transparency: a passenger cannot easily tell why two flights on the same route on the same day, with similar fuel consumption, should carry vastly different prices. When prices are set mainly by demand rather than by operating cost, the petition argues, festive pricing becomes exploitative for travellers who have no real alternative.
The airlines’ case: fuel costs and demand
Airlines, on their part, have pointed to aviation turbine fuel costs and demand-supply conditions to explain higher fares. The issue also came up before a parliamentary panel, where concern was raised over festive fare increases and airlines cited rising fuel costs and the closure of Pakistan’s airspace as factors pushing up operating costs.
The petition answers that argument directly. It says a modest increase on account of fuel costs may be understandable, but a fare several times the normal level cannot be explained by fuel alone. Flights on the same route on the same day burn roughly the same fuel, yet their fares can differ sharply. The petition’s position is that pricing has come to rest mainly on demand rather than on operating cost, which is why festive prices spike so sharply. Both sides of this argument are now on record, and the final word will come only after the main hearing.
The government’s new rules: what changes from 1 January 2027
One concrete step has already been taken. On 1 November, the Centre notified the Bharatiya Vayuyan Niyam, 2026, which will replace the Aircraft Rules, 1937, that have governed civil aviation for nearly nine decades. The new rules will take effect from 1 January 2027. They were framed after the Supreme Court pressed the government in this very litigation to rationalise fares and place draft rules before it.
Under the new rules, if intervention becomes necessary in an extraordinary situation in the public interest, the central government can issue directions to airlines on fares. Rule 192 will require airlines operating scheduled air services to set fares on the basis of factors such as operating cost and to submit fare details to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. The rules also introduce fare-transparency requirements, so that passengers can see a clearer break-up of what they are paying for.
This means that while no immediate fare cap has been granted for the current festive season, a new regulatory framework will be in place from 1 January 2027. Its real test will come with the next festive season, when it will be seen how far transparency and the power to intervene work in practice. The published rules will also be placed before the court at the 16 November hearing, which should clarify the direction of the case further.
What this means for passengers
For ordinary passengers, the immediate meaning is plain: there is no interim fare cap in force for the current festive season. Those who booked early are likely to have paid less, while last-minute bookings can cost much more. A few precautions can still help. Compare fares across different dates and times of day before booking, because fares on the same route on the same day can vary widely. Check train and bus options early as well, since those too fill up and get costlier during festivals.
When booking, look at the total price rather than only the base fare, because ancillary charges and baggage fees can push the final amount up considerably. Read the refund and rescheduling terms before paying, especially when booking through an agent or a third-party website. And be wary of suspicious links or unknown numbers offering unusually cheap festive tickets, since fake offers also multiply during festival season.
What happens next
The road ahead now rests on three points. First, the main public interest litigation will be heard on 16 November 2026, when fare transparency and dynamic pricing are likely to be argued in detail. Second, the new aviation rules taking effect on 1 January 2027 will show how fare disclosure and intervention work in practice. Third, the demand for a fare cap from traders’ bodies and passenger groups across the country, including Madhya Pradesh, will test how the government responds.
For cities like Bhopal, the issue matters directly, because swings in fares on connected routes affect ordinary families travelling home for festivals. Diwali, Bhai Dooj and Chhath will be followed by the year-end festive season, so the fare debate is unlikely to cool down soon. A lasting solution will need a balance in which airlines’ costs are understood and passengers are not left paying arbitrary prices to reach home for a festival.
Disclaimer: This story has been prepared on the basis of available sources and verification. If any fact is found to be incorrect, a correction will be published.
