It’s not a goodweek to book a last-minute air ticket and every seasoned flier knowsthat.With the festive season whipping up the demand on
domestic routes, singleway air fares for last-minute tickets to destinations like Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai etc have crossed the Rs 10,000-mark. On Wednesday afternoon, airfares for late evening tickets on the Mumbai-Delhi sector began at Rs 6,300 on low-cost airlines.
For full-service carriers, like on Jet Airways flight 9W311, for instance, the airfare was Rs 16,000.Airfares forKolkata were even higher,withlowcost airline fares starting at Rs 16,600. The only respite came fromthe fact thatweekend fares (metro routes) have yet not shot through the roof. Though there has been a 15-20%increase in air fares, booking a weekend ticket to cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai etc does not mean paying through the nose.
So far, at least. OnWednesday, the cheapest air fares for Saturday flights from Mumbai to Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai were Rs 4,800, Rs 6,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively. But on non-metro routes like flights fromMumbai to destinations like Jaipur, Nagpur, Mangalore, Kochi etc the weekend fares have shot up by about 70-100%in most cases. AMumbai-Jaipur ticket, whichsold for aboutRs 2,000 lastweek, costsRs 5,700 this weekend.
Mumbai-Kochi is Rs 6,650 this Saturday, while it drops to Rs 2,500 for travel a week later. ‘‘Long weekend, coupled with school vacations, Diwali and NRI rush means fares are bound to go up in the coming days. The demand has caught up, as expected, and between Friday toMonday, onemay see some of the season’s highest air fares,’’ said Vijay Kesavan, CEO, Akbar travels online, a travel portal.
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