Airfares for the festive season begin their ascent

With the festive season in full swing, there has been a surge in air travel bookings with most people preferring to book in advance.

According to travel portals, there are more travel plans this Diwali compared to last year. The surge in bookings has increased fares for the Diwali week.

On the most popular travel routes, fares have increased by up to 30%, with Diwali still more than a month away. The maximum increase in airfares are from Mumbai and Bangalore. According to travel trends, most travellers going for long weekends are from Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai.

“As we head towards the festive season, there has been an increase in flight bookings for Durga Puja and Diwali. A last-minute surge in prices is expected as we move closer to the travel dates,” said Sharat Dhall, chief operating officer(B2C), Yatra.com

A Mumbai-to-Delhi trip for October 18 is priced at Rs6,500 and a Mumbai-Bengaluru flight costs around Rs5,000. Tickets to these destinations from Mumbai are available at around Rs3,500, if booked in advance for a lean season.

According to MakeMyTrip, Kolkata-Delhi and Delhi-Hyderabad are some of the most travelled routes with more than 100% growth during this festive season compared to last year.

Rajeev Kale, president and country head, leisure travel and M.I.C.E, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd said, “Indian travellers have made a shift from single annual vacation to shorter and more frequent trips within India and international destinations. With the upcoming long weekends in October, during Durga Pujo/ Dussehra- Gandhi Jayanti and Diwali, the peak festive season allows people to travel to escape the stress of daily life. While 2016 saw public holidays falling on a Sunday, this festive season sees long weekend getaways.”

Cox & Kings Ltd. said they have seen an increase of around 15% in international travellers and around 19% in domestic travellers.