NEW DELHI: Reduced flights
and a huge demand have made flying to northeast this year-end more expensive than going abroad. Return tickets from
Delhi to either Bagdogra or Guwahati have been costing anywhere between Rs 21,500 and Rs 33,000 for the past week to 10 days on domestic airlines and are unlikely to drop till the first week of January. In contrast, flying to southeast Asia and back would cost between Rs 17,000 and Rs 22,000.
"Fares have been very high for the past 10 days. In the last two months, we have seen three very high fare phases around Dussehra, Diwali and now Christmas-New Year time. In these phases, airlines have sold a one-way Delhi-Mumbai or Delhi-Kolkata ticket for as high as Rs 15,000-17,000. The just over an hour Delhi-Srinagar flight has seen one-way fares going up to Rs 13,000-14,000," a leading airline's official admitted.
At present, the Delhi-northeast sector fares are on fire as demand is high due to two reasons locals going back home for Christmas and tourists on way to Darjeeling or Shillong. Even low cost carriers are charging between Rs 21,650 and Rs 23,500 for flying from Delhi to Guwahati and back in this holiday season. A leading full service carrier is selling return ticket for for as high as Rs 33,000. Return fares for Bagdogra are also as high. But despite the exorbitant fares, all airlines are reporting high passenger loads.
Ironically, the northeast falls in category II area of civil aviation route norms that have been considered unattractive and on which airlines have to fly a certain percentage of their inter-metro flights as a rule. But with fleet sizes falling and flights being reduced, the demand-supply mismatch during peak travel seasons is pushing the fares up.
Airline fares are directly related to demand. Booking in advance on a plane which has unsold seats could mean grabbing the lowest fares. Then as seats start getting filled up, the fares keep moving to higher levels. "Since we have already sold seats at low fares at the start, there is no question of doing so for the last few unsold seats. Only airlines' airport counters may offer last-minute attractive spot fares to fill up the plane as once the aircraft door is closed, the vacant seat is a dead loss forever," said an airline official.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Flying_to_NE_costs_more_than_SE_Asia/articleshow/3905775.cms
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and a huge demand have made flying to northeast this year-end more expensive than going abroad. Return tickets from
Delhi to either Bagdogra or Guwahati have been costing anywhere between Rs 21,500 and Rs 33,000 for the past week to 10 days on domestic airlines and are unlikely to drop till the first week of January. In contrast, flying to southeast Asia and back would cost between Rs 17,000 and Rs 22,000.
"Fares have been very high for the past 10 days. In the last two months, we have seen three very high fare phases around Dussehra, Diwali and now Christmas-New Year time. In these phases, airlines have sold a one-way Delhi-Mumbai or Delhi-Kolkata ticket for as high as Rs 15,000-17,000. The just over an hour Delhi-Srinagar flight has seen one-way fares going up to Rs 13,000-14,000," a leading airline's official admitted.
At present, the Delhi-northeast sector fares are on fire as demand is high due to two reasons locals going back home for Christmas and tourists on way to Darjeeling or Shillong. Even low cost carriers are charging between Rs 21,650 and Rs 23,500 for flying from Delhi to Guwahati and back in this holiday season. A leading full service carrier is selling return ticket for for as high as Rs 33,000. Return fares for Bagdogra are also as high. But despite the exorbitant fares, all airlines are reporting high passenger loads.
Ironically, the northeast falls in category II area of civil aviation route norms that have been considered unattractive and on which airlines have to fly a certain percentage of their inter-metro flights as a rule. But with fleet sizes falling and flights being reduced, the demand-supply mismatch during peak travel seasons is pushing the fares up.
Airline fares are directly related to demand. Booking in advance on a plane which has unsold seats could mean grabbing the lowest fares. Then as seats start getting filled up, the fares keep moving to higher levels. "Since we have already sold seats at low fares at the start, there is no question of doing so for the last few unsold seats. Only airlines' airport counters may offer last-minute attractive spot fares to fill up the plane as once the aircraft door is closed, the vacant seat is a dead loss forever," said an airline official.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Flying_to_NE_costs_more_than_SE_Asia/articleshow/3905775.cms
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