NEW DELHI, Feb 15: The Civil Aviation Ministry has increased the lower and upper limits on domestic airfares by 10% to 30%. The new limits will remain "in force up to March 31, 2021, or until further orders", the Ministry said in its order of Thursday.

When domestic flight operations resumed in India on May 25 after a gap of two months during the coronavirus lockdown, the Ministry had set limits on airfares in seven bands as per the flight duration.

The first band included flights with a travel time of less than 40 minutes and the airfare for this band was Rs 2,000-Rs 6,000, which has now been raised to Rs 2,200-Rs 7,800.

For flights with duration of 40-60 minutes, the limits have been increased from Rs 2,500-Rs 7,500 to Rs 2,800-Rs 9,800; for 60-90 minutes of flight from Rs 3,000-Rs 9,000 to Rs 3,300-Rs 11,700; for a duration of 90-120 minutes, from Rs 3,500-Rs 10,000 to Rs 3,900 Rs 13,000; for flights of 120-150 minutes, Rs 4,500-Rs 13,000 has been revised to Rs 5,000 Rs 16,900; for flights of 150-180 minutes from Rs 5,500-Rs 15,700 to Rs 6,100-Rs 20,400; and, for 180-210 minutes from Rs 6,500-Rs 18,600 to Rs 7,200-Rs 24,200.

The hike will provide relief to the aviation industry that has been one of the worst affected by the covid pandemic restrictions although it will make air travel costlier.