Domestic airfares on key routes skyrocket due to festive demand

Domestic airfares have increased by 20 to 30 percent on key routes due to the rise in demand during the ongoing festive season, said a report.

Average airfares have increased this year on popular routes owing to the increase in prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF).

At the same time, flight searches for leisure travel for Dussehra week rose 25-30 percent compared to last year, the business daily quoted Aloke Bajpai, CEO and co-founder of ixigo, as saying.

According to the Indian AI-based online travel portal data, the top 10 leisure destinations for travel between October 1 and 24 have been Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Patna, Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Bagdogra, Varanasi, Hyderabad and Dehradun.

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A comparison of fares during Diwali in 2021 and 2022 shows that the average one-way fare from Bengaluru to New Delhi rose from Rs 7,032 last year to Rs 9,340 this year. Similarly, the average cost of a one-way air ticket from Hyderabad to New Delhi stood at Rs 5,672 between November 4 and 7, 2021, while it costs Rs 6,971 between October 20 and 24, 2022.

The festive season begins around mid-September and continues through Durga Puja and Diwali till Christmas when it peaks. Most of the tickets bought during this period include those for leisure travel and festivals.

Meanwhile, travellers going from major cities in the country to Bihar to celebrate Dussehra, Diwali and Chhath Puja in their native place are paying two to three times more than the normal airfare, reported The Times of India.

According to the report last month, airfares between Delhi and Patna have jumped 145 percent as compared to normal ticket prices on other days. Tickets for flights between Delhi and Patna, which cost around Rs 5,000 on regular days, were hovering in the range of Rs 12,290 to Rs 16,889 per passenger around September 20.