High airfares ‘ground’ summer holiday plans, tour operators face heat

Pune: The likely upward revision of airfares following the govt's decision to roll back the cap may spoil summer holiday plans of people, while its rippling effect on bookings could hit tour operators' business.Makrand Angal, the owner of Go Holidays in the city, said, "Airfares are already high because of the fuel surcharge being levied by airlines. Only one-two bookings out of 10-15 enquiries are getting confirmed now. The removal of the temporary fare cap from Monday will push up prices by around 15% in domestic sectors and by around 20% or even more in international circuits. The cost of the entire tour package goes up if airfares are high. This will have an impact on bookings for summer months of June and July."The return flight fare for a person from Pune to Bagdogra and other Northeast sectors at present is Rs40,000. The same for Kerala for a person is Rs25,000 to Rs30,000. The return fare to Kolkata stands at Rs18,000 to Rs20,000. Even for Delhi, which has many flights from Pune, the return fare for a single person is almost Rs15,000. The same for a person from Pune to Srinagar is Rs28,000 and for Kannur almost Rs16,000. Last week, Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said the effects of the rise in aviation fuel cost could be seen from April 1.Against this backdrop, working professional Ashutosh Zanak's plan to visit Srinagar this summer has gone to the backburner. "We are re-planning the tour. Besides trying to cut down on the number of days, we are looking at cheaper hotels. We might even change the destination," the Dapodi resident said.Kothrud's Sharad Katre dropped his plan to travel to Darjeeling next month. "The travel company gave me a total quotation of Rs85,000, which was too high. The one-way airfare was as high as Rs42,000 for three people. We have taken a conscious decision to postpone it to next year and travel this time to somewhere near Pune," he said.Santosh Gupta, the owner of Shree Vinayak Holidays, said the impact of high airfare on summer travel plans was already being felt and it could get worse. "The international travel has suffered a dent because of the war. We thought that domestic travel would shoot up, but airfares have spoiled everything. Many clients are telling us that they will travel by personal vehicles. There is no sign of any improvement in the near future," he said.Aviation analyst and expert Dhairyashil Vandekar said airlines were under pressure indeed. "Rising ATF (Aviation Turbine Fuel) price because of geopolitical tensions have driven airlines' operating costs north. Fuel approximately constitutes 35-40% of their expenses," he said.Aviation expert and CEO of Avialaz Consultants Sanjay Lazar said the plane fares were expected to only go up further. "We anticipate that input costs (apart from ATF) have increased by about 10-15%. So, airlines will increase the lowest slab by a minimum of 15-20%. There could be a 10-15% hike in domestic fares and 20% on international long haul routes at the lowest slab. With every incremental fare bucket, the step-up hike will be higher," he said.Lazar said the civil aviation ministry's directive to airlines to ensure that 60% of seats in an aircraft were free wouldn't translate into any relief for flyers. "Airlines will hike the base fare to protect their margins," he said.