In reaction to Rahul Gandhi's statement, civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said that the government has continuously encouraged competition in the aviation industry to encourage the entry of more airlines into the market.
He cited current legislation that aims to lower leasing prices, pointing out that it will facilitate airline fleet expansion. Naidu noted in his statement that the IndiGo crisis is not a political problem but rather a matter of public concern.
"He needs to realize that this is a public issue rather than a political one. The government has always sought to boost competition in the aviation industry, he stated.
"More competition means allowing new airlines to enter, increasing aircraft in our fleet, and reducing leasing costs." To enable the addition of more aircraft, we have even approved legislation in Parliament to reduce lease prices.
Rahul Gandhi said on Friday that the government's monopoly strategy is to blame for the IndiGo debacle, which is mostly affecting the regular public.
"The cost of this government's monopoly model is the IndiGo fiasco," he wrote in a post on X. Once more, regular Indians bear the cost in the form of delays, cancellations, and powerlessness.
Additionally, he advocated for increased competition across industries, stating that "India deserves fair competition in every sector, not match-fixing monopolies."
Thousands of passengers are experiencing severe disruptions as the sixth day of the IndiGo crisis continues. Due to airline delays and cancellations, many people are still stuck at airports, and others are missing significant life events.
