Airfares in the Christmas season will pinch less due to heightened competition and increased capacity on key domestic and international routes. 

Demand for travel is high and airlines are reporting strong loads. While fares are higher compared to last year there is no price surge. In fact, on some routes fares are even lower compared to last year as supply has grown faster than demand. While domestic flights in December have increased 7 per cent year-on-year, international flights to/from India have grown by 10 per cent.

“Christmas-New Year is a traditional peak travel season but ticket prices are fairly moderate this year,” said Indiver Rastogi, president and group head (global business travel), Thomas Cook India.

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According to ixigo, average one-way airfares for popular destinations like Phuket and Singapore for travel between December 24-31 have risen by 2-14 per cent on a year-on-year basis. This is for tickets booked one month in advance.

The biggest hike is seen on flights between Mumbai-Bali (47 per cent) and Delhi-Bangkok (51 per cent). However, fares between Mumbai – Bangkok have dropped by 23 per cent in the same period with the introduction of two new flights in winter season. Ticket prices to London too are lower compared to last year, ixigo data shows.

Holiday plans

Typically, people plan long haul holidays three to six months in advance because of uncertainty over visas and to get better deals. Trips to short haul destinations are planned closer to date. According to Rastogi, return economy class airfares to Europe (booked six months in advance) for the Christmas season have risen by 20 per cent over last year. “Australia and New Zealand are presenting an interesting trend with airfares remaining on par or marginally lower than last year offering value to Indian travellers,” Rastogi added.

It’s a mixed bag on domestic routes too as fares are lower by 3-34 per cent. The sharpest drop is seen on routes from Kolkata to Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai. According to ixigo the biggest hike for Christmas season fare is between Delhi – Srinagar (18 per cent) and Delhi – Hyderabad (17 per cent).

“We are not seeing domestic fares peak on festive occasions but if you take an average for the entire month, it is at the same level as last year,” said an airline executive. While demand was subdued during Diwali there was a pickup in subsequent dates with domestic airlines carrying 5 lakh plus passengers on November 17 – a first for Indian skies. The record was broken a week later with another 5 plus lakh traffic carriage. “Wedding season drove the traffic growth more than Diwali,” he quipped.

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Another executive said that domestic air traffic growth between January-October is only 5.3 per cent which was slower than capacity addition. “International demand is relatively healthier. While there is pressure on unit revenue and yields, fuel price is lower fuel and that is helping airlines,” he said.