With fuel price rise, airfares go north

Airlines will watch for passenger response during the lean months of July-September

With the rise in fuel prices, domestic and international airfares have witnessed surge by up to 50% in the past few months, according to data from online portals.

A ticket for New Delhi to Mumbai booked on Saturday for a flight within the next 15 days will cost a customer ₹8,576 as compared to ₹5,675 in January this year – an increase of 51%. Similarly, a flight ticket for Bengaluru to New Delhi within the same booking window will cost ₹9,674, which is a 38% increase from ₹6,984 five months ago. And, a Mumbai to Varanasi air ticket is up by 47% to ₹8,565 as compared to ₹5,810 in January.

Data from travel portal ixigo shows that airfares were higher by 27% to 50% on various domestic routes even in the month of May.

“Fares right now are the highest we have seen on the domestic side post-COVID,” says Manan Bajoria, VP, Growth Marketing & Analytics, ixigo.

Yet, the airlines in May flew the highest number of passengers since the pandemic at 1.20 crore passengers.

International flights which returned to their pre-COVID-19 levels from March 27 are also costlier as compared to 2019. A Mumbai-New York one-way fare in May 2022 was at ₹70,296, a 53% rise from ₹33,265 in May 2019, and an air ticket for a Bengaluru to London flight at ₹51,223 was 18% costlier and Mumbai to London was 52% costlier.