Kingfisher crisis: DGCA 'monitoring' airfare hike

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday announced that it is keeping an eye on the hike in the airfares of other airlines in the wake of cancellation of more than 300 flights by Kingfisher Airlines since last week.

"There are price bands. Probably, the airlines are operating on the highest bands. ... Some upward movement due to large scale cancellations by a big airline (Kingfisher). We are closely monitoring the fares. We keep nudging them
(airlines) if they go beyond the price band," DGCA chief E K Bharat Bhushan told reporters here.

However, the DGCA said that it could not act in haste on pulling up airlines, adding the issue of slot cutbacks was being examined.