Air passenger demand in December strongest since pandemic
₹106,155.67 per kl on 1 December, marking the second reduction in a month after a nearly 6% decrease on 1 November. Despite these cuts, prices remain over 80% higher than in 2019. This consecutive reduction offers some respite to Indian airlines, which had added a fuel surcharge in October to offset the soaring costs.
Jet fuel accounts for 40% of airlines’ expenses. According to a survey conducted by the Airports Council International and Flare Aviation Consulting, India saw the biggest increase in airfares among the nations in the Asia Pacific area. Nishant Pitti of EaseMyTrip said fares on key domestic routes for late December have risen up to 50%.
“In fact, after covid, travel to and from India has continued to be substantially more expensive than it was before, on average by 30-40%. We have observed that airfares have seen a notable increase of up to 50% for the 24 December–1 January on major domestic routes such as Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Bengaluru, and Mumbai-Chennai," Pitti said. For travel destinations, domestic hotspots Goa, Jaipur, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Puducherry remain popular.
Travel portals have also witnessed a slight uptick in international travel. As per data from ixigo, Dubai, Bangkok, New York, Colombo, Bali and Male are the currently the top international destinations booked for travel in December. RateGain’s forecasts for January 2024 indicate a sustained rise in outbound bookings and a notable surge in business travel arrivals.
Read more on livemint.com
