Brace For Impact! Domestic Air Fares Increase By Upto 30%; But Foreign Trips Can Be Cheaper

Air travellers in India may witness an unusual event playing out in the upcoming months of the summer season. The domestic fares will be rising due to costlier fuel and international fares will fall as scheduled flights resume.

Significant increase in airfare 

According to the data sourced from online travel agencies, fares on some of the trunk routes in the domestic sector have increased by 15-30% just over the last few weeks.

Increase in domestic flights fare

Ixigo, the online travel agency, said one-way airfare for bookings from Delhi to Mumbai in between February 25 and March 3 was Rs 5,119 which is 26% higher than the Rs 4,055 for bookings between February 1-7.The cost of a one-way flight ticket from Kolkata to Delhi increased by 29% to Rs 6,114 from Rs 4,725. On domestic sectors, airlines are required to price their tickets in a fare band for a rolling period of 15 days. Airlines have increased fares due to rising crude oil prices in the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

International routes from India followed similar airfare trends as domestic flights but the resumption of international commercial flights from March 27 is expected to bring some relief even as the oil prices rise.

Lower number of airplanes operating per week 

Airlines operated around 2,000 international flights from India every week under these arrangements. This is lower than half of the 4,700 departures from India per week before the COVID19 pandemic forced the suspension of regular international flights.

 Fares of international flights increased due to the pandemic 

These restrictions on international flights, in addition to recent world events like the Ukraine crisis and rising oil prices, had led to an increase in international fares. According to ixigo data, the average round-trip fare from Delhi to Dubai in February 2020 was Rs 24,751, and the same under bubble flights as of February 2022 was Rs 32,651 which is a 32% spike. Similarly, the average fare on the Delhi-Madrid route in February 2020 was Rs 48,418; it rose by 39% to Rs 67,436 in February 2022.

Source-https://indianexpress.com/article/business/aviation/domestic-air-fare-up-oil-spike-flights-abroad-cheaper-7818404/