Digital Desk: Domestic airfares have nearly doubled on important metro routes, owing to a rise in demand ahead of this year's long Diwali weekend.
According
to sources acquainted with the situation, the price increase has not
discouraged travelers, and a rush of bookings has left very few seats available
for last-minute sales.
While a
nonstop round trip between India's most popular route, Mumbai to Delhi,
generally costs Rs 12,000, rates reached Rs 23,000 on Wednesday, just in time
for Diwali on October 24.
Flights between Delhi and Patna, as
well as Mumbai and Patna, were revealed to be the most expensive on Wednesday.
The rush to Patna was linked by airline authorities to Chhath Puja, which will
be celebrated on October 30.
On Thursday, a round-trip ticket
from Delhi to Patna between October 21 and 31 cost Rs 25,000.
"While flights between Delhi
and Allahabad, as well as Mumbai and Bengaluru, appeared to be in demand,
bookings for locations such as Jaipur also appeared to be in demand," the
official noted.
On Friday, airlines said that the
majority of their scheduled flights to Delhi were already nearly filled.
On Wednesday, another booking
website, Make My Trip, only provided three flights from Mumbai to Delhi.
Yatra.com provided ten flights.
The cost of a nonstop trip from
Delhi to Goa on Saturday ranged from Rs 8,200 to Rs 27,000. A ticket from
Mumbai to Goa on the same day ranged in price from Rs 5,000 to Rs 21,000.
According to travel portals, the
surge was bigger this year than last, probably due to the Union government's
elimination of Covid-19 limits and the pricing cap.
According to Bharatt Malik, senior
vice president (of flights) at Yatra.com, nearly all flights along important
routes are fully booked.
"After a two-year respite, the
holiday season this year has seen an exponential spike in travel." People
are either returning home or traveling to different locations to celebrate
with their friends, family, and dear ones. This surge in travel demand has
directly impacted airfares, and we are witnessing fully-booked flights on major
routes at Yatra.com," Malik said.
"While airfares on certain
metro lines have reduced by 16-18% compared to 2019, there is a major increase
of roughly 17-20% compared to 2021," he said, pointing to routes like
Delhi-Bengaluru and Delhi-Mumbai.
Airfares for non-metro routes have increased by 26% compared to 2019 and by 6-8% compared to 2021, he added.
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