Airfares offer stiff challenge to flexi rates of stage carriers

Introduction of new flight services in ThiruvananthapuramBengaluru sector has helped lower the fares in the sector, says an airport official

With the VishuRamzan festival season nearing, there is likely to be an increase in domestic travel. For those travelling between Bengaluru and Kerala, one of the busiest routes from the State, during the festive season, planning their itinerary in advance will help save money and time, especially on the ThiruvananthapuramBengaluru and KochiBengaluru routes.

With 10 daily services in the ThiruvananthapuramBengaluru sector, airfare on this route is almost equal to or lower than the flexi rates of interstate stage carriers during the peak season.

Though ThiruvananthapuramBengaluru is the longest route aerially compared to KochiBengaluru,

KannurBengaluru or KozhikodeBengaluru, the airfares are the secondcheapest after KochiBengaluru. A flight ticket will cost around ₹3,000₹3,100 in the ThiruvananthapuramBengaluru sector on April 4 and in the next week. On the return route, flight tickets are available for ₹2,800 to ₹3,000.

On the other hand, an AC Volvo stage carrier ticket on the route is priced around ₹1,850 this week while the flexi rates in the second week of April will come in the range of ₹2,500₹3,500.

New services

A senior officer of Thiruvananthapuram International Airport said the introduction of new services, the latest by Vistara that launched two daily flights in this sector on Monday, helped lower the fares in the sector, which, otherwise, used to rule high during the peak travel seasons.

In the KochiBengaluru sector, more daily flights are available. As a result, seats are offered at competitive rates.

Despite the aerial distance between Kannur or Kozhikode and Bengaluru is only half that between Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru, the airfares are relatively higher in the sectors due to the fewer number of daily flights.

Making up for losses

According to operators of stage carriers, only the festive season help them make up for the losses incurred during the nonpeak season.

Further, there will be a huge demand for seats in this sector during the festival season and the available seats are insufficient to cater to the demand.