Increase in air fares

air fares: Planning to fly during the festive season? So this time you may have to pay a higher price. According to data from travel portal Ixigo, airfares on some routes during the Navratri season have doubled compared to last year. The special thing is that this year the airfares have increased more than double as compared to the pre-Covid year 2019 level.
During the second half of Navratri, the average fare for a Bengaluru-Kolkata flight has increased to over Rs 14,000 from around Rs 7,000 in the same period a year ago. Similarly, the average fare on Mumbai-Kolkata flights has increased by 55 per cent to more than Rs 12,000 during this period. The average fare of Bengaluru-Patna flight has increased by 25 percent to more than Rs 10,000.
Fare increase even during Diwali
During Diwali, which falls in the second week of November, air fares have increased compared to last year. According to experts, on the occasion of Diwali, fares on many routes have become costlier by up to 70 percent. Bengaluru-Mumbai flight is 67 percent costlier, which is around Rs 5,000. Bangalore-Lucknow fare has increased by 41 percent to more than Rs 10,000. Similarly, the fare for Chennai-Mumbai flight has increased by 56 percent during this period to more than Rs 5,600. Nishant Pitti, CEO and co-founder of Ease My Trip, said that during the upcoming festive season, there has been an increase of 72 percent in airfares compared to last year. The highest increase is from Delhi to Ahmedabad, followed by Delhi to Srinagar route, which has seen an increase of 89 percent.
Increase in advance booking
There has also been an increase in advance booking this year. Data from ixigo shows that travelers are booking at least 30 days in advance for both Navratri and Diwali this year, with advance bookings 30-35 per cent higher than last year. In Ease My Trip, tickets can be booked up to 80 days before the journey. According to Alok Bajpayee, co-founder and group CEO, ixigo, due to rising demand and limited capacity, advance booking fares for Diwali in November this year are on an average 35-40 per cent higher than last year. We are expecting an increase in travel demand in October and November this year. The main reasons for which include the long weekend of Gandhi Jayanti, Navratri, ICC World Cup 2023 and other festivals including Diwali.
Supply is falling short of demand
India has been at the forefront of recovery from air travel after the pandemic. Due to suspension of Go First flights and shortage of aircraft, there has been an imbalance in demand and supply, due to which the fares have increased. Domestic air travel increased by 5.4 per cent to 12.4 million in August compared to the pre-Covid period of August 2019. Due to which the fare is more expensive than the 2019 level. Pitti said the biggest reason for this is low supply and demand.