Drop in airfares increases off-season sales in June

MUMBAI: A drop in domestic airfares this monsoon coaxed a significant number of people to make travel plans during the off-season.

Data compiled by the civil aviation ministry showed that 55.22 lakh travellers took domestic flights in June, making it the second highest month after May (58.54 lakh).

The data also showed that air passenger volumes in June were the highest since 2010 (see box for details).

Travel experts have attributed the trend to a healthy drop in airfares. According to travel portal Makemytrip, air tickets bought 0 to 6 days before the date of journey on metro routes during monsoon were up to 47% cheaper than May.

While fares on the Delhimumbai route fell by 32%, air tickets on Bangalore-mumbai route was 47% cheaper.

“The last few months have seen a lot of activity and new developments in India’s airline sector. Aggressively priced fares, competitive discounts and smart inventory management by airlines have resulted in air travel becoming significantly cheaper in the third quarter of 2014,” said Ranjeet Oak, senior vice-president,

Makemytrip.

“Both business and leisure sectors have seen fares dropping between 25% and 50% for 7-day advance purchase, while the drop is little lesser (17%-35%) for tickets booked 30 to 60 days before the date of journey.

Other travel operators agreed with the trend. “We saw a record spike this year in air travel during monsoon. This was essentially a combination of

long weekends combined with flash sales, which led to a major impact in travel volumes,” said Sharat Dhall, president, Yatra com.

With new airlines such as Vistara (jointly launched by the Tata group and Singapore Airlines) scheduled to start operations by October, flash sales and discounts are expect ed to rain over the next few months.