Sky-High Airfares Put Festive Travel Plans Under Pressure

New Delhi : Planning to fly home this festive season ? Be prepared for a potentially painful hit to your pocket. Airfares on several major domestic routes have reportedly surged sharply ahead of the festive season, with the Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) urging the Union government to intervene and take steps to curb what it describes as an excessive rise in ticket prices.

According to CTI president Brijesh Goyal, fares that were available at relatively lower prices just days ago have now increased by 50% to 100% on some routes. CTI has written to the Civil Aviation Ministry seeking government intervention, citing steep increases on key routes including Delhi-Mumbai, where a return ticket that was around ₹10,000 earlier is now reportedly costing ₹18,000–₹25,000; Delhi-Ahmedabad, where fares have risen from around ₹10,000–₹12,000 to ₹18,000–₹20,000; Delhi-Bengaluru, where fares are claimed to have jumped from ₹12,000–₹15,000 to ₹30,000–₹35,000; and Delhi-Kolkata, where fares have reportedly climbed from around ₹11,000 to ₹20,000.

CTI has also alleged that IndiGo’s infant fee for children aged 3 days to 2 years has increased from ₹2,000 to ₹3,000, despite infants not being allotted a separate seat. Goyal further cited aviation data agency OAG, claiming that domestic airline capacity was reduced by 5.6% in September, with IndiGo’s capacity down 4.5% and Air India’s down 8.8%. CTI has argued that reduced capacity combined with rising festive-season demand could put additional financial pressure on passengers, particularly middle-class and upper-middle-class families.

With the festive period extending from Ganesh Chaturthi through Diwali and Chhath Puja, CTI has warned that airfares could rise further if demand increases, and has called for immediate government action to address what it considers unusually high fares.

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