The Supreme Court of India has refused an urgent hearing on an oral mention raising alarm over sharp surges in airline ticket prices during the festive season. When an advocate urged the bench to urgently step in against ticket prices multiplying rapidly ahead of major festivals, pointing to a massive hike, the judges declined immediate intervention and made a direct oral observation that travelers could avoid air journeys instead.
Urgent Mention Before the Three-Judge Bench
The matter was brought up for early listing before a bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta, and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh. Urging the court to intervene without delay, the advocate submitted that flight fares on high-demand routes had witnessed an increase of nearly 700 percent. In response to this submission, the bench remarked:
Do not travel by air.
The advocate contended that air travel functions as an essential utility for citizens in modern transportation networks. The counsel argued that allowing commercial carriers to impose such uncontrolled increases during high-traffic windows amounts to an infringement of the fundamental right to equality before the law guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution.
Pending Regulatory Petitions and Judicial Scrutiny
The issue of unmonitored airfares is already undergoing formal legal examination in a separate public petition filed by social activist S. Lakshminarayanan. That broader petition seeks systemic reforms across the commercial aviation market, emphasizing greater operational transparency and stronger passenger safeguards. It requests the creation of an independent and robust regulatory mechanism to govern erratic fee revisions, ancillary charges, and sudden price spikes levied by private airlines.
The Supreme Court had issued notices seeking responses from the Union government and other aviation authorities in November of the preceding year. During a hearing held in January, the bench underscored its intent to step in against arbitrary price escalations. The court had voiced serious concern over excessive holiday tariffs, terming excessive airfare hikes as exploitation, and directed both the central government and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to put their official positions on record.
Implementation of the Bharatiya Vayu Yan Adhiniyam, 2024
During the proceedings held on October 16 regarding Lakshminarayanan's plea, the central government submitted that necessary statutory framework updates were moving forward. Government representatives informed the bench that rules formulated under the Bharatiya Vayu Yan Adhiniyam, 2024, designed to overhaul the national aviation sector, had received administrative clearance and were slated for official gazette publication within two weeks.
Taking note of the government's stand, the bench instructed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to present the finalized and published rules before the court at the upcoming hearing scheduled for November 16. Earlier, on August 17, the Union government had apprised the apex court that the administrative process to formulate rules for modernizing the country's aviation industry under the new statute had been expedited.
