With the festive season in full swing, airfares to domestic destinations have skyrocketed. Flying by air to domestic destinations means that passengers will be paying a hefty premium as people rush to book flights while trains are almost fully booked. Flights to cities like Varanasi, Patna, Lucknow, Kolkata and others are now as expensive as flights to international destinations like Singapore, Dubai, Bangkok and more.
At the same time, the long weekend has meant that many are planning a vacation. Despite running extra trains, like the 32 additional mail and express trains bound to Patna, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Jay Nagar, Kishanganj, Katihar, and Barauni (Begusarai), there’s still a heavy demand for more transit options.
“Average airfares have risen by 20-30% this year on popular metro routes. Last-minute airfares on the metro to non-metro routes like New Delhi to Lucknow and Mumbai to Darbhanga, which have fewer flight frequencies, have seen a substantial rise of almost 40-45 percent,” said Aloke Bajpai, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder at Ixigo, to BQ Prime.
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Currently, a flight ticket from Delhi to Patna will cost at least Rs 17,294 if you’re looking to fly on Friday or Saturday. Whereas flying from Delhi to Bangkok on the same dates will cost Rs 10,438.
The situation is similar when booking flights from other major cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad to destinations like Varanasi, Patna, Kolkata and other nearby airports. Though prices have seen a hike of around 30-40 percent, there is some relief. Airfare begins to quickly taper off beginning from Sunday and then dipping further for Monday. But regional festivals like Govardhan Puja and Chhath Puja may again surge demand and prices.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
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