Air fares rise in festive season

NEW DELHI: Air fares for domestic travel have shot through the roof, almost doubling on key metro routes, amid a surge in demand ahead of a long Diwali weekend this year.

According to people familiar with the matter, the surge in pricing has not deterred travellers and a rush of bookings has left very few seats for last minute sales.

While a non-stop round trip between India’s most popular route, Mumbai and Delhi, usually costs ₹12,000, the fares touched ₹23,000 on Wednesday, ahead of Diwali on 24 October.

A one-way ticket to Mumbai from Delhi on 21 October (Friday) was going for ₹12,000 ₹29,000 on Wednesday. A oneway ticket from Delhi to Bengaluru was going for ₹8,000 ₹25,500. The fares for 22 October were ₹12,000 - ₹19,500 and ₹7000 - ₹22,000 on the same routes.

According to various travel portals, ticket prices are high till the middle of next week.

“The festive rush has resulted in a 20-25% increase in fares for flights plying between Delhi and Mumbai,” EaseMyTrip co-founder Rikant Pittie said.

After Mumbai-Delhi, flights between Delhi and Patna, and Mumbai and Patna were found to be the most expensive on Wednesday.

Airline officials attributed the rush to Patna to Chhatt Puja, which will be celebrated on 30 October.

A round trip between 21 and 31 October from Delhi to Patna was going for ₹25,000 on Thursday.

“Diwali followed by Chhath puja on 30 October has led to an increase in airfares along these routes,” a domestic airline official said, seeking anonymity.

“While flights between Delhi and Allahabad, and Mumbai and Bengaluru also appeared to be in demand, bookings for destinations like Jaipur have also seen a surge,” the official further added.

Airlines

claimed

most

of their scheduled flights to Delhi on Friday were already nearly full.

On Wednesday, another travel portal Make My Trip offered only three flights for travel from Mumbai to Delhi. Yatra.com offered 10 flights.

“Besides visiting friends and relatives travel, people are also utilising this long break for leisure travel,” according to another airline official, who sought anonymity.

On Thursday, the prices for a non-stop flight from Delhi to Goa on Saturday varied from ₹8,200 to ₹27,000. The price for a ticket from Mumbai to Goa during the same day varied from ₹5,000 to ₹21,000.

Travel portals claimed the surge was higher this year than last year, possibly due to removal of covid-19 restrictions and the cap on pricing by the Union government.

“Compared to last year, we saw an increase of 80-90% in searches on our platform this year. People are eager to travel. There has been an increase in flight bookings despite a surge in pricing,” Pittie said.

Bharatt Malik, senior vice president (flights) at Yatra.com, added almost all flights along major routes are entirely booked.

AFP Ticket prices are high till the middle of next week.