Holi weekend airfares soar ahead of fuel-hike impact

Mumbai: With the third wave of Covid over, demand for travel has picked up for the coming Holi weekend. This is reflected in airfares, though fuel-hike effects are yet to be felt.For air travel from Mumbai to the other metros and destinations that see high VFR (visiting friends and relatives) traffic — such as Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Lucknow and Patna — higher demand comes in April when the summer holidays begin; airfares for April are currently higher than for the coming weekend. With volatility in the global crude market taking up the prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF), the coming summer is likely to see some of the steepest fares. On Wednesday, ATF prices in Mumbai were hiked to Rs 1.09 lakh per kilolitre, up from Rs 92,000 per kilolitre just ten days ago. For the Holi weekend, leisure destinations are in high demand. For instance, the cheapest return ticket on Mumbai-Srinagar direct flights began at Rs 33,000 on Thursday. For Dehradun return, it was Rs 28,000, and Rs 12,000 for Kochi return. The cheapest return fare from Mumbai to places such as Delhi, Lucknow and Patna started at about Rs 10,000.“Our data shows a 40-50% jump in advance air ticket bookings across India for the long weekend of Holi, as compared to the same period last year,” said Nishant Pitti of travel portal EaseMyTrip. “Bookings to and from states such as Goa, Kashmir and Himachal, have witnessed a rise of 40% in bookings. There has also been a 20% rise in airfares during this period due to strong travel demand and rising fuel costs.”OYO spokesperson Ankit Gupta said, “For the upcoming Holi weekend, we have seen a rise in bookings for leisure destinations, with a lot of the demand stemming from big business cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata, among others.”The big airfare jump is expected to occur during the summer vacations. In January, during the Covid third wave, cheap airfares were available for travel beyond 15 days. For instance: the cheapest Mumbai-Delhi return fare for a two-week advance purchase was Rs 4,700. That option — of booking two weeks in advance for a cheap fare — no longer exists. For travel in April, the cheapest Mumbai-Delhi return fare begins at over Rs 11,000. Similarly, an advance purchase Goa return from Mumbai, which cost Rs 3,900 in January, is now Rs 7,700. In comparison, it’s marginally cheaper to fly to Delhi and Goa this weekend, with fares starting at Rs 10,000 and Rs 7,000.