expensive flight tickets
Travelers planning to travel during summer holidays have got a big shock due to inflation this time. Air fares on both domestic and international routes have increased by 40 to 50 percent, due to which the budget of people going on foreign trips has been completely ruined. Expensive prices of jet fuel, obstructions in airspace and reduced capacity of flights have made tickets extremely expensive. In such a situation, people are now turning to South-East Asia and domestic hill stations instead of Europe and America.
According to ET report, the fare for flights from Delhi to Leh has increased by about 74 percent on an annual basis. At the same time, tickets for Srinagar and Shimla have become costlier by 60 to 68 percent. Amidst the scorching heat and heatwave, people are moving to cooler places in large numbers, due to which the demand has increased rapidly. The situation is no different on international routes also. Fares for flights to London and Paris have increased by 53 percent, while tickets to Sydney have become costlier by about 38 percent. Popular destinations like Thailand and Singapore are also becoming heavy on the pockets of travelers this time. There has been an increase of more than 40 percent in the rents of these places.
Airlines industry experts say that there are many big reasons behind this increase. The most important reason is the sharp rise in the prices of jet fuel. In the last week of April, the global jet fuel price reached $ 179 per barrel, which is about 80 percent more than in February. Apart from this, due to tension in West Asia and closure of airspace, many flights have to fly on long routes, due to which both fuel expenses and operational costs have increased.
On the other hand, reduction in capacity of airlines has also pushed the fares up. According to global aviation data company OAG, IndiGo has reduced the capacity of its international flights in May by 17 percent compared to February. At the same time, Air India can also cut about 100 flights daily on domestic and international routes. This is going to especially affect travelers going to Europe, America, Australia and Singapore.
Due to expensive tickets, the travel pattern of Indian passengers has also started changing. According to travel companies, people are avoiding expensive long distance trips and are now giving preference to short distance visa-free or budget friendly countries. Demand from countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Malaysia has increased rapidly. According to Cleartrip, bookings for the Philippines have increased three times.
A tremendous surge is also being seen in domestic tourism. Bookings for Rishikesh, Leh, Varanasi and North-Eastern cities like Shillong, Guwahati and Imphal have increased rapidly. According to AbhiBus data, advance bookings for hill stations have increased by 38 percent, while May bookings for Coorg have increased by 115 percent. However, despite the expensive fares, the demand for travel has not weakened. According to Yatra, advance booking this summer is 20 to 25 percent more than the normal season. It is clear from this that for Indian consumers, travel has now become not just a hobby but a priority.
