Domestic airfare surge: You may now have to pay up to 30% more on these key routes

Routes Spot fare(one-way) March 2024, Rs. Spot fare(one-way) April 2024, Rs. % increase Mumbai- Delhi 6,058 6,541 8% Delhi-Mumbai 5,683 6,357 12% Delhi-Bangalore 6,948 9,643 39% Delhi-Srinagar 8,192 10,662 30%

The next time you book your domestic flight tickets be ready to pay extra as ticket prices on several key routes have spiked. While the Indian aviation industry had already factored in the rise in ticket prices due to 200 grounded aircraft (CAPA India estimates), the Vistara situation has added more fuel to the fire, thus resulting in more increase in ticket prices.As per two travel portals, Yatra Online & ixigo, spot airfare on certain routes have increased between 8-30%. As per Yatra Online, ticket prices have increased by 20-25% across key routes.Bharatt Malik, Senior VP of Air and Hotel Business at Yatra Online, attributed the spike in fares to Vistara's decision to reduce flights by 10%. "We've observed a significant surge in fares, with prices skyrocketing by approximately 20-25% across key routes such as Delhi-Goa, Delhi-Kochi, Delhi-Jammu, and Delhi-Srinagar,” Malik told CNBC-TV18.Similarly, ixigo highlighted significant jumps in ticket prices, ranging from 8% to 39%, with the highest increase observed on the Delhi-Bangalore route (39%), followed by Delhi-Srinagar (30%), Delhi-Mumbai (12%), and Mumbai-Delhi (8%).(According to ixigo data)Industry experts foresee potential long-term implications of the current scenario. Aviation Lawyer and Expert, Sanjay Lazar, emphasised that the recent flight cancellations by Vistara could lead to a fare increase of at least 25% during the summer rush, with possible ramifications extending into June and July, coinciding with student international travel.Another expert believes that the spike in airfare is not new, as it has been happening for a long time due to demand and supply dynamics.Mark Martin, Founder & CEO of Martin Consulting, remarked that the decision by Vistara to reduce flights has exacerbated the situation, contributing to another round of fare hikes. He pointed out that the grounding of around 200 aircraft across various airlines, including IndiGo, GoFirst, and SpiceJet, has further strained the aviation sector.Martin further added, “Issues are plenty for the Indian aviation sector. Indian airlines are unable to replenish aircraft. The airlines together should have at least inducted between 300-600 aircraft by now. The airfare has been rising for the past 4 years, and the travellers are helpless, if they want to fly they will fly.”Martin also compared the affordability of travel to destinations in Vietnam, which often costs less than domestic flights within India.On April 7th, Tata Sons-owned full-service carrier Vistara announced that it would be cutting 10% of flights. Vistara in a statement said, “We are carefully scaling back our operations by around 25-30 flights per day, roughly 10% of the capacity we were operating. This will take us back to the same level of flight operations as at the end of Feb 2024, and provide the much-needed resilience and buffer in the rosters. These cancellations are done mostly in our domestic network and much ahead of time to minimise inconvenience to the customers.” By the end of April, Vistara is expected to cancel around 1,000 flights.