20-25 Per Cent Hike In Airfares; Is Vistara Pilots Standoff To Blame?

New Delhi: Air travel will be expensive this summer the fares surging 20-25 per cent. Speculation is rife that the hike is on account of the Vistara flight cancellations and strong air travel demand.  With the peak summer travel period around the corner, the airline industry is grappling with challenges in scaling up capacity to match demand and is even using larger aircraft on domestic routes.

Unfortunately, Vistara’s pilot woes came at a time when the country’s airline industry was already operating with a reduced number of aircraft due to the bankruptcy of Go First and the grounding of over 70 planes by IndiGo over engine issues.

An analysis by travel portal ixigo showed that spot fares on certain routes jumped up to 39 per cent during the April 1-7 period compared to the March 1-7 period. The one-way spot fares for Delhi-Bengaluru flights climbed 39 per cent, while it rose 30 per cent for Delhi-Srinagar flights, PTI reported. The rise was 12 per cent for Delhi-Mumbai services and 8 per cent for Mumbai-Delhi services, as per the analysis.

According to Bharatt Malik, Senior VP – Air and Hotel Business at travel portal Yatra Online, the anticipated average airfare surge in the current summer schedule, encompassing both domestic and international routes, is projected to range between 20-25 per cent.

“Vistara’s decision to reduce flights by 10 per cent has affected ticket prices on major domestic routes. We’ve observed a significant surge in fares, with prices skyrocketing by approximately 20-25 per cent across key routes such as Delhi-Goa, Delhi-Kochi, Delhi-Jammu, and Delhi-Srinagar,” Malik was quoted as saying by PTI. He also said that one of the key reasons for the higher airfares is the reduction in flight operations by Vistara and added that escalating fuel costs as well as a heightened demand for summer travel has further contributed to the increase.

ixigo said spot fares have surged by 20-25 per cent on some routes due to rising demand before the peak summer travel season and some flight cancellations. “However, this is a temporary disruption caused by last-minute flight cancellations and fares should stabilise in a few weeks as soon as flight schedules normalise,” it said, according to PTI.