The festive holiday season is set to begin with Ganesh Chaturthi, which commences on September 19 and concludes in September-end. Post which, the season extends to Durga Puja or Navratri (mid-October), which is followed by Diwali in October end and then comes Christmas holidays in December. So essentially, if you're planning to travel to any metro or, tier two or three cities until the end of 2023, it's time you book your tickets and brace yourself to shell out at least 50 to 60 percent excess for flight tickets compared to the average cost as prices will only rise with demand for leisure travel increasing during the holiday season.
As of September 6, CNBCTV18.com checked for a return trip on the Mumbai-Kolkata route via a popular low-cost carrier that ranged between Rs 17,500 (one-way) with return fares of Rs 8,000, totalling nearly Rs 25,000 for a round trip. The average cost on this route for the same return flight is on average between Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 during the rest of the year.
Joe John, who worked at a leading domestic carrier and now runs his independent travel company told CNBCTV18.com, “On average, airfares will rise by 50 to 60 percent during peak festive travel season. Given the ICC ODI World Cup being held from October 5 to November 19, 2023, airfares will only rise, considering the popularity of the sport in India. Hence, the best time to book your flight tickets, in case you haven’t booked as yet is now, as prices have not hit their peak as yet.
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Indiver Rastogi, President and Group Head, Global Business Travel, Thomas Cook (India) and SOTC Travel told CNBCTV18.com, "The Diwali season has started witnessing high travel demand - not just from India's metros and mini-metros, but tier two and three cities. Given the uptick in demand, compared to Diwali 2022, airfares to favourite domestic destinations are seeing an increase of 10-25 percent, there is a 10 percent rise in air fares to Srinagar and Bagdogra, while Leh and Port Blair have witnessed an eight percent rise. Other prominent destinations that have seen a 10 to 25 percent spike in airfares include Goa, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Cochin from hubs like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad. India's festive season forms the second highest travel peak compared to summer (May-June 2023)."
Rastogi added that metro routes are witnessing an 10% increase in pricing compared to last year. Additionally, return fares to tier two-three cities like Bhubaneswar, Indore, Lucknow, Jaipur from hubs like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru are higher by 5-15 percent as India's migrant working professionals travel back to their hometowns to celebrate Diwali with families.
On the international front. Airfares to top long-haul destinations like Zurich, Paris, Vienna, Madrid, Budapest, Athens, Sydney and London are up by approximately 10 percent; South Africa has witnessed a 17 percent rise in flight ticket prices, according to Thomas Cook India.
Airfares to Turkiye witnessed a five percent decline compared to last year and are at par with May-June 2023. However, fares to New Zealand have dropped by 14 percent vs May-June 2023.
Other international destinations closer to India like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur are witnessing a 10 percent increase in airfares, while Singapore has seen a rise by 15 percent. As this vacation season is shorter compared to the school summer vacations, given the easy visa process short haul destinations are clearly in high demand and this is reflected in the spike in air tariffs, Rastogi shared.
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