Airfare To Europe Drops 2-6% For Indian Travelers Ahead Of Peak Summer

"Our data reflects a decrease in airfares this year for key European destinations—Switzerland (3%), France (2–4%), Scandinavia (3–6%) across key metros," Thomas Cook (India) President and Country Head - Holidays, MICE, Visa, Rajeev Kale told NDTV Profit. An increase in air routes and frequencies between India and Europe is causing this drop, with airlines like Air India and IndiGo adding more flights to key European cities, he said.

The average one-way advance fare for Delhi-Switzerland is about Rs 22,000, while that of France is about Rs 26,000, showed data from online travel agents.

Ashwini Kakkar, a senior travel expert and managing partner of Indventure Partners LLP, describe these fares as "invitational" aimed at drawing more wealthy Indian tourists as factors such as a US economic downturn, a prolonged stock market slump, weaker dollar are making some US consumers, also the biggest spenders, think twice about splashing out on European vacations. The share of US travelers planning a European vacation has dropped to 37% so far this year from 45% in 2024, according to a February report by the European Travel Commission.

People are also opting for visa-free destinations without compromising their budget, causing airfare to drop, said Kakkar.

Short-haul international favourites like Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman are seeing a marginal increase in airfares by an average of 4–6% compared to last year (ex-Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru), driven by consistent demand from both metros and tier 2 and 3 cities. Yet, on absolute basis, these fares are cheaper than Europe.

"Direct connectivity offered by both full-service and low-cost carriers such as IndiGo, Air Astana, Jazeera, Salam Air, and Vietjet Air have further propelled demand for these routes," according to Kale.

S.D. Nandakumar, President and Country Head - Holidays and Corporate Tours, SOTC Travel Ltd, echoed similar sentiments. "While visa-free and easy visa destinations are driving strong demand, we are witnessing a shift in demand from metros to regional India’s tier 2 and tier 3 markets."

Among other popular international spots, Kenya, popular for its safaris and wildlife experiences, has seen a drop in airfares by 5–8%, further boosting its appeal among Indian travellers looking for nature-based outdoor holidays, said Kale. However, airfares to Australia and New Zealand have increased by 6–13% and 13–20%, respectively (ex-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru), as they continue to draw high travellers' interest.

"Our data reflects a decrease in airfares this year for key European destinations—Switzerland (3%), France (2–4%), Scandinavia (3–6%) across key metros," Thomas Cook (India) President and Country Head - Holidays, MICE, Visa, Rajeev Kale told NDTV Profit. An increase in air routes and frequencies between India and Europe is causing this drop, with airlines like Air India and IndiGo adding more flights to key European cities, he said.

The average one-way advance fare for Delhi-Switzerland is about Rs 22,000, while that of France is about Rs 26,000, showed data from online travel agents.

Ashwini Kakkar, a senior travel expert and managing partner of Indventure Partners LLP, describe these fares as "invitational" aimed at drawing more wealthy Indian tourists as factors such as a US economic downturn, a prolonged stock market slump, weaker dollar are making some US consumers, also the biggest spenders, think twice about splashing out on European vacations. The share of US travelers planning a European vacation has dropped to 37% so far this year from 45% in 2024, according to a February report by the European Travel Commission.

People are also opting for visa-free destinations without compromising their budget, causing airfare to drop, said Kakkar.

Short-haul international favourites like Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman are seeing a marginal increase in airfares by an average of 4–6% compared to last year (ex-Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru), driven by consistent demand from both metros and tier 2 and 3 cities. Yet, on absolute basis, these fares are cheaper than Europe.

"Direct connectivity offered by both full-service and low-cost carriers such as IndiGo, Air Astana, Jazeera, Salam Air, and Vietjet Air have further propelled demand for these routes," according to Kale.

S.D. Nandakumar, President and Country Head - Holidays and Corporate Tours, SOTC Travel Ltd, echoed similar sentiments. "While visa-free and easy visa destinations are driving strong demand, we are witnessing a shift in demand from metros to regional India’s tier 2 and tier 3 markets."

Among other popular international spots, Kenya, popular for its safaris and wildlife experiences, has seen a drop in airfares by 5–8%, further boosting its appeal among Indian travellers looking for nature-based outdoor holidays, said Kale. However, airfares to Australia and New Zealand have increased by 6–13% and 13–20%, respectively (ex-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru), as they continue to draw high travellers' interest.

As families have started planning their summer vacations, there has been a 5-30% surge in ticket prices for a domestic holiday, according to industry executives. On peak travel days around the weekends, passengers may also notice that their flights are crowded amid limited seat capacity.

Data sourced from online travel agents show that bookings for the busy travel season, spanning from April to June, are on an average 50% higher than last year, belying concerns that rising airfare would hurt travel.

Some places like Kullu, Dehradun, Srinagar, Shimla are seeing even higher demand despite soaring airfares. "Bookings for these destinations have gone up by 60-100% year-on-year during April and May, leading to a significant rise in fares, especially on last-minute bookings, as travelers prioritise comfort and quick getaways to beat the summer heat," a spokesperson of travel platform ixigo told NDTV Profit.

For instance, the advance fare data for April and May shows that the average one-way fare for New Delhi-Kullu route surged 37%.

Similarly, the advance fare from New Delhi to Srinagar is up 22%, while the spot fare for this route is up 29%. Spot fare for Mumbai-Srinagar also shot up 48%. The average one-way fare from metros including Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai to Dehradun is 14-33% higher, according to ixigo data.

There has been an overall 10-15% year-on-year increase in airfare for summer travel, according to Rikant Pittie, CEO & Co-Founder, EaseMyTrip, adding that high airfares are not acting as a deterrent to demand.

Based on advance bookings and search trends, air traffic is being driven by dedicated experiences like concerts, star gazing, northern lights and spirituality, he told NDTV Profit.

Flight tickets are turning expensive not solely due to rising demand, but more pertinently, because of inadequate capacity available to handle that demand. A total of 25,610 weekly flights have been approved for the summer schedule ending October, which is barely a 2.4% increase over the concluding winter, shows data shared by Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Supply chain challenges and aircraft delivery delays have slowed expansion plans for airlines.

While IndiGo, Air India Express and Akasa Air have added flights, the likes of SpiceJet and Air India have been the laggards.

Air India Express is growing the most, with 543 more flights per week, followed by IndiGo which might have a marginal 3% increase in its schedule but that translates to 467 additional flights a week. Akasa Air will cross the 1,000 flights a week mark on the domestic routes for the first time.

On the other hand, Air India, which is a combination of Vistara and Air India, has approval for 4,310 weekly domestic flights, down 10% from last season. The shrinking is largely due to fleet rationalisation and transfer of routes to Air India Express in a bid to compete with IndiGo.

Major airline SpiceJet, however, has seen a 25% reduction in slots.

The combined domestic and international passenger traffic across airports rose 21% over the previous year to 3.44 crore in January-February, according to DGCA data.

"We expect international traffic to continue to outpace domestic traffic growth, driven by healthy international tourism activity, along with improved connectivity," said Kinjal Shah, senior vice-president and co-group head, Corporate Ratings, ICRA Ltd.

ICRA projects the overall airport passenger traffic to witness healthy growth of around 7-9% YoY to reach new highs of 44-45 crore in FY26. While increased flights and passenger count are set to drive up airline revenue, ICRA projects the industry to report a net loss of Rs 2,000-3,000 crore this fiscal.