Heavy rush for international flights

No tickets available on most sectors till September 15

No tickets are available in any of the international airlines operating from Ahmedabad for almost all sectors till September 15.

Air-India, which has direct flights for Dubai, London and Los Angles, has sold out all its tickets till September 15 and there are several passengers on the waiting list.

"August is the peak season for most of the international airlines. Air India has sold out all the tickets for the US, UK and Europe sectors till September 15, However few tickets are available for the Dubai sector after first week of September," D Kishore, manager, Gujarat, Air India, said on Tuesday.

The problem has been so acute that, Air India had to recently offload over 15 of its passengers due to over bookings.

There are also no tickets available for any of the international flights of Indian Airlines operating from Ahmedabad. However, few of the seats are available with Singapore airlines which started its international operations recently.

"All the Indian Airlines flights are filled up and no tickets are available till the second week of September. Generaly families staying abroad return to their respective countries at this time of the year after spending their vacations in India," said a senior official of Indian Airlines in Ahmedabad.

Over 80 per cent of the passengers traveling to Gulf, US and Europe sectors are non residents Indians(NRI), who generally return to their home countries as schools and colleges there open in August and September.

The Indian students who get admissions in different universities in US and Eurpoean countries add to the air traffic as their semisters starts in mid-August. Moreover, August and September, being summer months, are the best seasons for tourists to visit US and Europe.

Air India is planning to extend its direct flight to Dubai up to Kuwait from the next year after has acquired new air busses. Indian Airlines is also planning to increase the frequency of its direct flights to London "" from bi-weekly to tri-weekly.

Indian Airlines operates direct flights from Ahmedabad to Muscat, Sharjah and Kuwait. The Muscat and Sharjah flights are thrice a week, while the Dubai flight is twice a week.

The peak period is between July 15 and September 15, when most of the international flights operates at 100 per cent occupancy level as compared to the average occupancy level between 65 per cent to 75 per cent. The passengers book their tickets two months in advance to fly in this peak period.

Factors lifting flight bookings

• Schools and colleges reopen in August, September in countries in Gulf, Europe
• Summer in Europe is ideal for tourists