India-Canada airfares soar amid troubled ties
₹1.46 lakh. It is more than ₹1.01 lakh on the Toronto-Delhi route. Similar fares for New Delhi-Montreal cost over ₹1.55 lakh and over ₹1.16 lakh in the opposite direction.
Flyers will have to spend approximately ₹1.33 lakh for late bookings on a New Delhi-Vancouver flight, while those coming from Vancouver will have to shell out nearly ₹1.3 lakh. Travel portals said they have seen a spike of up to 25% in last-minute fares. People making late bookings include tourists as well as citizens visiting friends and family in either country.
Air India and Air Canada are the only two airlines operating direct flights in this route—a total of 48 flights per week between the two countries. Air India flies daily New Delhi-Toronto and New Delhi-Vancouver, while Air Canada flies daily between New Delhi and Toronto and operates three flights a week between New Delhi and Montreal. The air traffic market between India and Canada accounts for 1.2% of the total international passenger traffic to and from India, while India is Canada’s fourth largest international air transport market.
In FY23, 678,614 passengers flew between the two countries while the total international traffic to and from India stood at 54 million. On Thursday, India suspended visa services in Canada, citing ‘operational reasons’. A private agency, BLS, hired for initial scrutiny of visa applications of Canadians, put out a note on its website, stating “Due to operational reasons, with effect from 21 September 2023, Indian visa services have been suspended till further notice.
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