AI plane crash, geopolitical tensions affect international travel plans

Geopolitical tensions, visa issues, and flight disruptions prompt travelers from Bengaluru to switch from international to domestic destinations.

The recent accident involving the London-bound Air India flight in Ahmedabad disrupted flight schedules across carriers adding to the geopolitical tensions and visa issues that have had an impact on the international travel plans of people from Bengaluru.

Many are changing their destinations from international to domestic, while others are postponing their plans to later months.

“We have been seeing a lot of impact on the ground as people do not want to travel abroad now. Those who had sought itineraries and other details are not confirming their plans anymore. The schedules of most airlines are now disrupted. A low-budget Thailand carrier just informed us that they will not be operating their flights from July,” said Firoze from Travel of India in R.T. Nagar.

He also said that while destinations like Dubai, Qatar, Turkey, and Azerbaijan are being avoided by tourists for geopolitical reasons, it has become difficult to get Schengen visas to travel to Europe. “This is the time when a lot of people travel to Europe, as the weather will be pleasant. But 80% of our travellers are facing visa rejections,” he said.

Travellers said that the uncertainty around flight schedules is making them apprehensive about traveling abroad. “I had recently travelled to Mumbai and my return flight to Bengaluru was delayed as it was just two days after the Ahmedabad plane crash, and there was a disruption in schedules. I also keep seeing maps on the internet every day where many airspaces are being avoided by international carriers. I first wanted to travel to Turkey – Jordan, but had to drop it for geopolitical reasons. Then I wanted to travel to Southeast Asia, but dropped that too as there was news about COVID-19 cases rising again. I am thinking of waiting for six more months before I travel abroad again,” said Vishwanathan K., an avid traveller from Bengaluru.

Another resident of the city, Shwetha Kumari, said that she opted for a domestic destination for safety reasons. “I wanted to travel to Dubai in June-July as not many people go there in this season. Now, after assessing the tensions everywhere and seeing flight schedules, I have decided to travel to Madhya Pradesh or Maharashtra as those places are nice to see in the monsoon and it is easier to return home no matter what happens,” she said.

Even domestic travel has been affected due to the early arrival of the southwest monsoon, the tour operators said. However, tour operators said that their losses have not been huge as the holiday season of April-May has just got over.