Planning to travel by air during festivals? Your tickets may be costlier

Certain routes have witnessed a jump in airline ticket (year-on-year) prices during the month of September as the demand for air travel remains high amid the festival season

For those planning to travel via air during the upcoming festival season, the costlier ticket prices may dampen the mood. 

A report by Livemint, citing data from travel company Thomas Cook, suggested that certain routes have witnessed a jump in airline ticket prices during September as the demand for air travel remains high.

The report noted that flights from Delhi, bound to Chandigarh and Bagdogra were up by about 10- 20 per cent compared to a year earlier. Udaipur, Goa bound flights from Mumbai were also costlier by up to 13 per cent. The flights from Bengaluru to Goa, Leh, Chandigarh and Srinagar were priced higher by up to 11 per cent.

Experts say that the surge in demand for domestic flights even on shorter routes is a consequence of multiple public holidays ahead. Many holidays like Janmashtami, Independence Day among others are also lined up near weekends, further boosting travel plans.

Supply crunch in aircrafts, high rentals to reflect in prices

Additionally, supply crunch in aircrafts is also a key factor resulting in higher airfares.

Moreover, the data shows that aircraft rentals have surged compared to a year earlier. According to UK-based aviation research firm Ishka, the average market lease rate Airbus a320 for a 10 year period is up 14 per cent to $177,000 per month in January (year-on-year). For Boeing B737-800, the prices are up by 13 per cent Y-o-Y, Livemint said.

Thus, this additional cost is expected to reflect in the fares of Indian airlines like IndiGo, Air India Express and SpiceJet, which use Airbus 320s and Boeing 737s fleets for their operations.

The capacity crunch in the airline industry appears to be an immediate challenge since traffic levels have also reached near pre-pandemic levels globally. In December, the most prominent season of travel, international air traffic rose 25.3 per cent compared to December 2022. Compared to pre-pandemic year 2019, the December traffic stood at 97.5 per cent.

In India, the traffic is also past the pre-pandemic levels. Indian airlines carried a record 152 million passengers in 2023, a jump of 23 per cent compared to 2022, the official data showed.