Bhubaneswar: A drop in jet fuel prices, a lull in the travel season and opening of the Pakistan air space have led to a 40 per cent drop in airfares across trunk routes, travel and tour operators have said.
Fares in the Bhubaneswar-Delhi and Bhubaneswar-Mumbai sectors have dropped by as much as 35-40 per cent, making it one of the most economical seasons for air passengers.
In fact, if you are planning a last-minute booking to Delhi or Mumbai for Thursday, the cheapest airfare on offer is Rs 3,734 between Bhubaneswar and Delhi in no-frills career IndiGo and Rs 4,398 in full-service career Air India.
That’s as cheap as an AC 2 train fare. If you travel by Rajdhani from Bhubaneswar to New Delhi on Thursday, an AC 2 tier ticket will cost you Rs 4,320.
Here are the airfares on prime routes from Bhubaneswar:
To New Delhi
August 1: Air India Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rs 4,398
August 1: IndiGo Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rs 3,734
August 7: Air India Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rs 3,558
To Mumbai
August 1: Air India Bhubaneswar-Mumbai Rs 4,135
August 1: GoAir Bhubaneswar-Mumbai Rs 4,060
To Hyderabad
August 1: IndiGo Bhubaneswar-Hyderabad Rs 3,589
To Kolkata
August 1: Indigo Bhubaneswar-Kolkata Rs 1,935
August 7: Indigo Bhubaneswar-Kolkata Rs 1,935
The fares on the Bhubaneswar-Bengaluru sector, however, continue to remain on the higher side in the range of Rs 5,500 to Rs 7,500 for days and weeks ahead. The reason could be no addition of new flights in the recent past despite persistent demand.
Travel portal Ixigo’s founder Aloke Bajpai told Live Mint that the fares for July, both in domestic and international routes, were down by 40-45 per cent compared to June because of the launch of new services.
“Domestic routes have witnessed a decrease in airfares this year as compared to the same period last year. This decline can be attributed to the stabilization of Airline Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices in 2019,” Sharat Dhall, chief operating officer (B2C) of Yatra.com told Live Mint.
ATF, which comprises 40 per cent of an airline’s operating expenses fell to Rs 61,200 a kilolitre on 1 July 2019 from Rs 68,086 a kilolitre a year ago, down 10.11 per cent.
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