As per travel portal ixigo, the average airfare on several domestic routes have dropped down, bringing a relief for the travellers.
In a moment of cheer for travellers this Diwali season, the average airfares on several major domestic routes have gone down by 20-25 percent, as compared to the year-ago period. According to an analysis by travel portal ixigo, the average airfare on the domestic routes have dipped 20-25 percent, when it comes to the cost of one-way average ticket on a 30 days APD (advanced purchase date) basis.
It is believed that the fall in air ticket prices can be attributed to the dip in the increased capacity and the recent fall in oil prices as well. Last year, the Diwali period for travel was considered to be November 10-16, and for this year, it is October 28-November 3.
ixigo Group CEO Aloke Bajpai told news agency PTI, “Last year, airfares around Diwali had surged due to limited capacity, primarily driven by the suspension of Go First airline. However, this year we've seen some relief as additional capacity has been added since then, leading to a 20-25 per cent YoY (year-on-year) dip in average airfares across key routes for the last week of October.”
As per the analysis, the maximum decrease of average airfare has been 38 percent, and it is for a Bengaluru-Kolkata flight. The fares on the route have dipped to Rs 6,319 this year from Rs 10,195 last year. Coming to the Chennai-Kolkata route, the ticket fare has gone down 36 percent to Rs 5,604 from Rs 8,725.
Interestingly, the average airfare for Mumbai-Delhi flight has reduced 34 percent to Rs 5,762 from Rs 8,788. As for Delhi-Udaipur route, there has been a decline of fares from Rs 7,469 from Rs 11,296. The reduction in airfares on Delhi-Kolkata, Hyderabad-Delhi and Delhi-Srinagar routes has been 32 percent.
As per Bajpai, the decline in oil prices, which has been 15 percent this year, might have contributed to this trend, and due to that, travellers now have more affordable options for travelling via air during the festive season. However, it seems the oil prices will have an upward growth amid rising geopolitical tensions.
Last but not least, certain routes do have seen a hike in travel airfares as well of up to 34 percent. The air ticket prices on Ahmedabad-Delhi route have gone up 34 percent to Rs 8,758 from Rs 6,533. Similarly, the rise on Mumbai-Dehradun route has been 33 percent to Rs 15,527 from Rs 11,710, according to the analysis.
