Airfare Hike: This time there has been an eight percent increase in bookings during the Christmas and New Year holidays as compared to last year. But air travel tickets between many big cities have doubled. There has been a significant increase in air fares on international routes also.
New Delhi: Only a few days are left for the year to end. There has been a huge increase in air fares especially in metro cities due to Christmas and New Year holidays. According to travel planning and booking websites, there has been an eight percent increase in booking requests as compared to last year. According to online travel booking platforms, there has been a 50 percent increase in airfares between big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune. For example, a ticket from Bangalore to Mumbai is available for around Rs 9,000 whereas on normal days it is Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000. Similarly, the cheapest air ticket between Delhi and Bengaluru is Rs 14,000 to Rs 15,000.
Gaurav Patwari, Vice President, Air Category, Cleartrip, said, the holiday season is looking good for the industry. There has been an increase of eight percent in year-end season bookings. Most of the people from Bengaluru are going to New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and Lucknow. Bangkok, Dubai, Singapore, Colombo and Male are the top destinations in international travel. Due to very high demand, the price of air tickets for domestic and international travel has increased significantly. Cities with club culture and offbeat destinations are in high demand but there has been no change in fares for cities like Chennai and Hyderabad.
Steep rise in fares
EasyMyTrip CEO Nishant Pitti said that the airfares are lower than last year. But on Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Bangalore and many other domestic routes, fares have increased by up to 50% between December 24 and January 1, 2024. Fares to international destinations are continuously increasing. Meanwhile, many flights have been affected due to increase in fog in many cities including New Delhi.
