Air travelers in India may have to pay 5-30 per cent more for flights this summer as airlines see capacity cuts amid rising travel demand as well as operational woes. This comes after Vistara cut back on its operations citing pressure on pilots and performance concerns. The carrier said, “We are cutting 25-30 flights per day, which represents roughly 10 per cent of our total capacity.” Additionally, IndiGo has also grounded 75 of its aircraft due to engine issues, The Hindu Business Line reported. These cut comes at a time when travel demand is increasing for the upcoming summer holidays (April-June).
Why is there a rise in airfare?
The report quoted industry experts as saying that there would be a rise in airfare on popular routes. Jagannarayan Padmanabhan, Senior Director and Global Head, Transport, Logistics, and Mobility, Consulting, Crisil Market Intelligence, and Analytics, said as per the outlet, “With the busy season starting we could see upward pressure on Airfares due to the operational headwinds being seen by a few of the airlines. The overall impact of this is going to be in the range of 5-8 per cent.”
What travel portals have observed on airfares?
Travel portal ixigo’s spokesperson said that this could result in a major price hike for air travelers as “spot fares for popular routes have surged by 20-25 per cent on some routes due to rising demand before the peak summer travel season and temporary dip in capacity on certain routes due to some flight cancellations. However, this is a temporary disruption caused by last minute flight cancellations and we expect fares to stabilise in a few weeks as soon as flight schedules normalise.”
Ixigo has observed a significant surge in airfare prices as it said that “certain frequented routes could see a rise of anywhere between 5 per cent to 30 per cent for a one way flight.”
Airfare hike: Is this a temporary spike?
This might be a temporary hike as fares could stabilise within a few weeks when airlines normalise operations.
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