Last-minute fares on domestic flights have fallen 20-25 per cent from the previous high levels. This follows the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) threatening to take action against airlines for what officials said was unreasonably high fares.

Official sources said that now last-minute fares, more popularly known as `spot fares', between Delhi and Chennai were in the range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000, while a Delhi-Hyderabad one-way ticket was available for between Rs 5,000 and Rs 13,000. Earlier, passengers were paying up to Rs 40,000 one-way for a flight between Delhi and Bangalore or Delhi and Kolkata, while a Chennai-Coimbatore flight cost up to Rs 15,000. With the fall in spot fares, a flight ticket between Mumbai-Bangalore will now cost between Rs 3,500 and Rs 7,000, a Mumbai-Thiruvananthapuram flight between Rs 4,500 and Rs 16,000, Delhi-Kochi between Rs 8,000 and Rs 27,000 and a Mumbai-Kochi flight Rs 4,000-14,000. Flights from Delhi to Shimla or Kulu are available for less than Rs 6,000, Leh for less than Rs 4,500 while a Delhi-Dehra Dun flight ticket now varies between Rs 3,000 and Rs 9,000. The fall in fares came a day after the newly appointed DGCA, Mr E.K. Bharat Bhushan, met representatives of the three low-cost airlines - IndiGo, SpiceJet and Go Air - here and asked them to moderate fares. The DGCA will hold a similar meeting on Monday with the full service airlines.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has taken a strong view of the airlines raising fares with the Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, announcing the constitution of an Economic Advisory Committee headed by the Civil Aviation Secretary to look into tariff related issues. Earlier this month, the airlines had proposed that domestic fares be categorised into four slabs based on the distance - less than 750 km, 750-1000 km, 1000-1,400 and more than 1,400 km. The Minister had rejected the proposal.