Delhi-London economy class airfares zoom up to Rs 4 lakh on revenge travel

Spike in airfares seen in several other routes connecting India, Mumbai-Moscow doubles in about a month

Average economy-class fares on international flights operating on key routes connecting India have risen significantly during the last one month due to high demand, according to data from EaseMyTrip.com.

The travel website's data shows that average economy class fare on a flight heading from Delhi in India to Newark in the US increased from Rs 69,034 in July to Rs 87,542 in August.

An average economy class ticket on Mumbai-Moscow flight and Mumbai-Doha flight was priced Rs 43,132 and Rs 11,719, respectively, in July this year, according to the data. This increased to Rs 85,024 and Rs 18,384, respectively, by August.

In a statement, Nishant Pitti, CEO and Co-founder of EaseMyTrip.com, said there has been an increase in the average economy fares of international routes in August compared to July.

"Recently, a large number of countries have eased their travel restrictions for Indian citizens, which has steadily increased demand for travel as there is a huge pent-up travel demand," he stated.

Rising fuel costs and shortfalls in seat availability are also some of the other reasons for the increase in airfares at each of these routes, he pointed out.

Passengers have been complaining on social media about the rise in fares of India-UK flights during the last couple of weeks.

Sanjeev Gupta, Secretary, Inter-State Council Secretariat, Union Home Ministry, said on Twitter on Saturday that an economy-class ticket on British Airways's Delhi-London flight for August 26 was priced Rs 3.95 lakh.

Gupta added that economy-class ticket on Delhi-London flights of Vistara and Air India for August 26 was also priced between Rs 1.2 lakh and Rs 2.3 lakh amid the college admission time in the UK.

In response, Vistara spokesperson stated: "Pricing is always a function of supply and demand. There are only 15 flights a week allowed currently on India - UK route for Indian carriers and when there is relaxation and more capacity allowed, it will automatically bring down prices."

Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 last year amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, limited special international passenger flights have been operating since July 2020 under the air bubble arrangements formed with 28 countries, including the UK.

According to the data of EaseMyTrip.com, the average economy-class ticket on a flight operating on Bengaluru-Male-Bengaluru route increased from Rs 18,741 in July to Rs 20,372 in August.

Pitti said he anticipates a huge pent up demand for travel and tourism sector post the vaccination drive across India.

"We can very well see that the tendency of people for revenge travel has already kicked-in and there has been a significant increase in queries and bookings for domestic as well as international destinations have been starting now, which we believe is a positive sign for whole of travel industry," he noted.