Why are airfares rising during the travel season?

Online travel operator Cleartrip has seen an increase of around 6% in airfares for the current quarter from September. For the period December 21-31, rival Ixigo has seen a 44% increase in airfares for the Bengaluru-Kolkata route, a 40% increase in the New Delhi-Goa route and a 15% increase in the New Delhi-Bengaluru route.

On the other hand, there has been a jump in the spot fares for the Delhi-Mumbai flight. 15,000-20,000 . From 5,500 more in September The spot fare for 9,000 Mumbai-Bengaluru flights in May is approx. almost . from 4,000-17,000 2,000 Spot fares skyrocket on Delhi-Bengaluru route in September approximately from 15,000-35,000 7,000 more in September 10,000 in May

A Cleartrip spokesperson said airfares are higher in October-December as Indians plan for winter and New Year holidays.

The hike in fares is due to higher demand as post-Covid consumers are planning their vacations without any worry or fear. The spokesperson said that even international destinations have lifted most of the restrictions related to COVID.

According to CAPA India, the Indian aviation industry is facing a serious challenge in the form of grounding of more than 75 aircraft, or around 10-12% of the fleet, due to maintenance or engine related issues. The second half of FY23 could be a challenging one for Indian airlines as supply chain issues will impact due to engine shortage and significant slowdown in new deliveries that have grounded aircraft, affecting all airlines. This also includes more than 35 aircraft, or 12% of India’s largest airline IndiGo, and more than 25 aircraft, or 47% of GoFIRST’s fleet.

It is also reflected in the winter schedule for airlines, which started on 30 October. According to the winter schedule published by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), GoFirst, promoted by Wadia Group, has been approved to operate 1,390 flight departures per week, a drop of 40% from the 2021 winter schedule and IndiGo has been approved to operate. has been given. 10,085 flight departures per week, 1.5% less than the 2021 winter schedule.

GoFirst recently suspended Delhi-Male flights till December 4. There have also been complaints of last-minute chaos from passengers regarding its operation and flight timings, among other issues, a travel agent said.

“Small airlines have not added capacity as fast as they were doing pre-Covid. Because of this, there are choke points on some routes. Recently we saw amidst the Diwali rush that the Mumbai-Delhi route was sold out. Such demand is expected around festivals, and if there were more capacity additions, we would have had lower fares and met higher demand,” said Alok Bajpai, Co-Founder and Group CEO, AxisGo. We have seen 20-30% growth this year on popular metro routes due to rising oil prices.