Airfares climb up to 25 pc for Diwali, Onam festival season travel

NEW DELHI: Airfares are heading northwards for the festival season, with the average one-way ticket price on key domestic routes being 10-15 per cent more for Diwali and 20-25 per cent higher for certain flights to Kerala cities for Onam, according to an analysis.

An analysis done by travel portal ixigo for PTI showed that the average one-way economy class fare for non-stop flight on Delhi-Chennai route during October 30-November 5 period is 25 per cent higher at Rs 7,618. This is in comparison to the fare during November 10-16 period last year.

For the given comparison period, the ticket price is 21 per cent more at Rs 5,162 on Mumbai-Hyderabad route and 19 per cent higher at Rs 5,999 and at Rs 4,930 on Delhi-Goa and Delhi-Ahmedabad routes, respectively.

On certain other routes, fares are higher in the range of 1-16 per cent, as per the analysis. ixigo's Group Co-CEO Rajnish Kumar said travel demand for Diwali is on the rise with airfares higher than last year.

"Popular routes like Delhi-Chennai, Mumbai-Bengaluru, and Delhi-Hyderabad are seeing average one-way fares ranging between Rs 4,000-5,000, marking a 10-15 per cent Y-o-Y increase as the festival approaches," he said.

On the other hand, fares have also dropped in the range of 1 per cent to 27 per cent on certain routes for the given comparison period. While the ticket price for Mumbai-Ahmedabad flight has declined 27 per cent to Rs 2,508, the fall is 25 per cent at Rs 4,890 for Mumbai-Udaipur flight. In the case of Bengaluru-Hyderabad flight, the fare has dropped by 23 per cent to Rs 3,383 and by 21 per cent to Rs 7,826 for Mumbai-Jammu flight, the analysis showed.

Also, an analysis of airfare trends on select routes for the upcoming festival in Kerala showed that prices have increased in the range of 1 per cent to 25 per cent on certain routes. At the same time, ticket prices have fallen around 6-35 per cent on some routes.

The figures are average one-way fare for non-stop flights for departure during the September 6-15 period this year compared to August 20-29, 2023 period when Onam was celebrated. A 30 per cent rise in fare to Rs 4,102 has been registered for Hyderabad-Thiruvananthapuram flight for the given comparison period. A similar quantum of increase is there for Mumbai-Calicut flight to Rs 4,448.

"Travel demand for Onam festivities has surged this year, with flight bookings and searches for travel to Kerala in the second week of September doubling compared to last year. Average airfares to key cities like Cochin, Calicut, and Thiruvananthapuram have risen by 20-25 per cent year-on-year," Rajnish Kumar said. There have been persisting concerns over high airfares, especially during peak and festival seasons.

Against this backdrop, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu, earlier this month told Lok Sabha, that the ministry was planning to introduce an online mechanism to address grievances to ensure passengers were not exploited by unnecessary fare hikes.

Under current regulations, airfares are neither established nor regulated by the government after the repeal of the Air Corporation Act in March 1994. Last month, the ministry told Rajya Sabha that airlines have been advised to self-regulate as well as sensitised to exercise moderation in pricing of air tickets.