Indians in Egypt pay twice the normal fare on Air India

Indians in the troubled city of Cairo had to pay twice the normal fare for a one-way ticket to Mumbai on India's government-owned Air India flight, despite the fact that life came to a halt in the Egyptian capital with banks and ATMs being shut, said a media report on Tuesday.

Passengers had to pay 5,670 Egyptian pounds ($968) for a one-way ticket to Mumbai on two flights operated by Air India on Monday, the Economic Times reported.

But, the normal fare for a Cairo-Mumbai flight is less than half of that paid by the passengers on Monday, said the report citing expat Indians in Cairo.

I'm really disappointed with the Indian government. At a time like this, Air India is charging more than double the normal fare. If a family of four wants to travel, that is a lot of money we have to pay in cash, said Narayan Bhat, who works as director of operations at Egyptian tech firm Metra Computers.

The situation is really grim here. Supermarkets are running out of food and essentials, Bhat added.

Loss-making Air India had accumulated losses of Rs 150 billion ($3.3 billion) over the last three years.

Deloitte recommended state-owned Air India (AI) to put a freeze on pay hike or promotion of its employees for the next three years to make a turnaround, said a Business Standard report.