A pile-up of grounded planes may drive Indian airfares up 20%

MUMBAI: A pilot shortage for one. A cash crunch for another. And now the Boeing Max crisis. As Indian airlines ground plane after plane, passengers can expect to pay a lot more.

Airfares for domestic travel may rise by 20% heading into the annual school break, a prime t i me f or f amilies t o t ravel, according to an online booking firm.

“At least 50 planes are out of action owing to multiple reasons,” said Sharat Dhall, chief operating officer (COO) of the business-to-consumer segment at Yatra Online Pvt Ltd.

“That’s an ei ght percent reduction of domestic airline capacity.”

Jet Airways India Ltd. has grounded about 40% of its fleet after failing to pay lessors as it races to fix its debt woes. Budget airline Spicejet Ltd said onwednesday that it was pulling 12 Boeing 737 Max planes from service after India joined other nations in shutting its skies to the tainted aircraft at the center of two recent crashes. Asia’s biggest low-cost airline by market value, Indigo, will be canceling dozens of f l i ghts everyday over the next two months as it battles a shortage of s kil l ed pi l ot s f ol l owing an aggressive expansion.

Meanwhile, Indians just keep f l y i n g mo r e . T h e sector recorded 46 straight months of double-digit growth through to June 2018, according to International Air Transport Association, keeping it on course to becoming t he t hird- l argest domestic aviation market by 2024.

With robust demand through the holiday season, Dhall says airfares have only way to go: Up.