TBM Staff - Mumbai According to a report in The Hindustan Times, flying expenses could soar in this September quarter due to increased traveller interest during festival weekends. Airlines, already facing aircraft shortages, may struggle to meet demand. Additionally, fares are expected to escalate further during the December quarter, the peak holiday season in India.
According to data from travel company Thomas Cook, advance travel fares for this quarter have surged by up to 20% compared to last year.
Flights from Delhi to destinations such as Chandigarh and Bagdogra are up 10-20% from a year earlier, while from Mumbai, fares to Udaipur, Goa and Jaipur are up 10-13%. Fares from Bengaluru for Goa, Chandigarh, Leh and Srinagar are up by 5-11%.
Multiple public holidays have sparked demand for short trips to domestic destinations, said Indiver Rastogi, president & group head of global business travel at Thomas Cook (India) and SOTC Travel.
This year, Independence Day, Janmashtami, Onam, Eid and Ganesh Chaturthi are near weekends, creating opportunities for extended travel plans. Besides higher travel sentiment, the slow pace of adding aircraft is also driving up fares.
Ratings agency ICRA estimates domestic passenger traffic in June at around 13.28 million, more than 6% from a year earlier, and nearly 10% above pre-covid levels; however, airline capacity deployment in June was up by just 7% on year and lower by 3% over May.
Separately, one of the terminals of Delhi’s international airport, the country’s largest and busiest, remains out of service. A section of the roof at its Terminal 1 collapsed on 28 June after heavy rain.
The terminal is India’s largest with a capacity of 40 million passengers per annum, and while airlines have managed to utilize Terminal 2 and 3 for the affected flights, a slight impact is visible on fares for some routes, an airline executive said on condition of anonymity.
