Airfare Spike: Domestic And International Routes Witness Significant Surge — Check Prices

With 2024 coming to an end, holiday travel plans are also on their way to hitting peaks. While some are off to visit their family, others are all set to explore their wanderlust for their adventurous soul. The December holiday season sees several expats from the Middle East, US, Canada and European countries going home. This also translates into a spike in airfares around this time, with ticket prices even increasing three-fold for certain routes for both domestic and international destinations.

The government, too, has taken note of a general spike in air ticket prices, noticing there was a particular spike in business class fares in domestic flights over the last eight quarters.

Domestic passenger traffic rose to 15.36 crore in 2023-24, up from 13.60 crore in 2022-23, driven by fleet expansion and airport modernisation, Minister of Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, said in the Parliament on Thursday in response to a question. "Meetings with airlines and OTAs in August, September, and November focused on ensuring fair airfares, transparent practices, prompt passenger refunds, and measures to boost satisfaction and sectoral growth," he further said.

Here are certain air routes—both domestic and international—that might burn a hole in your pockets:

Air fares in domestic Metro city routes from Dec. 21 to Jan.1:

• Mumbai-Delhi: Range from Rs 3,800 to around Rs 8,000. With Dec. 21, having a surge in airfare with Rs 7,300 to 8,000, for non-stop flights.

• Mumbai-Bengaluru: Range from Rs 5,151 to around Rs 6,600 for non stop flights.

• Mumbai-Chennai: Range from Rs 4,981 to around Rs 5,083.

• Mumbai-Kolkata: Range from Rs 8,500 to Rs 18,339 (Dec. 21: Rs 18,339 price for a non-stop IndiGo flight).

• Mumbai-Hyderabad: Range from Rs 3,700 to Rs 4,200.

• Mumbai-Kochi: Range from Rs 9,500 to Rs 20,176.

• Mumbai-Goa: Range Rs 8,246 to Rs 21,048.

• New Delhi-Goa: Range Rs 9,300 to Rs 20,001.

• New Delhi-Bengaluru: Range Rs 7,700 to Rs 16,662.

With surge in Indians travelling abroad and the popularity of events like Dubai Shopping Festival and various Christmas and New Year's eve events, there is a sudden surge in the fares for international flights.

Popular destinations for international travel during December include, Dubai, London, Switzerland, Europe, Thailand, Singapore and Maldives.

Airfares in certain international routes from Dec. 21 to Jan.1.

• Toronto-New Delhi: Range Rs 1,68,970 to Rs 4,27,823.

• London-New Delhi: Range Rs 81,757 to Rs 3,42,772.

• New Delhi-London: Range Rs 18,926 to Rs 92,370.

• New Delhi-Bangkok: Range Rs 20,224 to Rs 99,421.

• Mumbai-Dubai: Range Rs 18,683 to Rs 65,738.

• Mumbai-London: Range Rs 26,220 to Rs 4,94,031.

• Bengaluru-London: Range Rs 23,513 to Rs 1,97,729.

In April-September, domestic passenger traffic (7,93,45,065) surpassed the volume (7,53,58,445) during the corresponding period in 2023-24, reflecting a growth of 5.3%.

"The airlines have also been sensitised to ensure reasonability while fixing the airfares and to keep passengers' interest in mind," said Naidu.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has setup a Tariff Monitoring Unit that monitors airfares on select domestic sectors on random basis, by using airlines websites on monthly basis, Naidu said. This is to ensure that the airlines do not charge airfares outside the range declared by them.

"While the government generally refrains from regulating airfares to maintain market competitiveness, however, it remains vigilant, and the Government intervenes to shift capacity from one sector to another to prevent exorbitant pricing to ensure passenger comfort and welfare," Naidu said.

Given the complex dynamics of the Indian aviation industry, the government is playing the role of a facilitator by way of creating enabling environment to support the growth of the sector, he further stated.