Advance booking for Diwali air travel higher this August

Advance booking for Diwali air travel higher this August

Manju.V@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:29.08.2021

For the second year in a row, advance purchase bookings of air tickets for travel during Diwali holidays have been sluggish. But when compared to last August, bookings are significantly higher this year. While fares to destinations like Delhi, Goa, Cochin for October and November travel are currently cheap, those to Srinagar, Leh, Varanasi and Patna have begun their annual winter climb.

“Pre-pandemic around this time, early birds would be booking holidays for next year, summer. Diwali holiday bookings would be full, air fares would be high,’’ said Veena Patil of Veena World. “This year, we’ve been getting enquiries and bookings for travel next week, next month but not beyond,’’ she said.

Airfares reflect this trend, though with exceptions. For travel in November, during Diwali holidays, fares on flights from Mumbai to leisure destinations like Dehradun, Srinagar and Leh and then to highdemand 'visiting family/ friends’ destinations like Varanasi and Patna have begun a northward climb. But those to Delhi, Cochin and even Goa are cheap. Said a low cost carrier official, “Airfares are typically capped for flights upto 30 days out. For cheaper fares, passengers have to book over a month before travel. For instance: Currently, Mumbai-Delhi cheapest return fare is Rs12,000 for September, but only Rs5,000 for October travel. In case of Diwali bookings, cheaper options may be available only with 45-60 days advance booking. The anxiety over Covid third wave has hit the pace of Diwali forward bookings.” Prahlad Krishnamurthi, chief business officer, Cleartrip, said forward booking trend was better than 2020, but significantly below 2019. “Bookings for travel in October-December this year are about 9% of overall bookings in August. This is higher than last year but lower than pre-Covid levels,” he said. In the last few weeks, consumers have been open to booking more than a month in advance and hence there’s a spike in October bookings, which is significantly higher than what was witnessed last year this time.

Sabina Chopra, co-founder, yatra.com, said bookings for October-November-December increased by more than 40% for leisure destinations. ``In comparison to 2020, there has been an increase in queries by 25-30% during this time of the year for winter travel as well. As for 2019, the year had a much more early stimulus for travel during October-November-December,’’ Chopra said.

MakeMyTrip data indicates a 5-time increase in travel bookings this August, compared to last year’s, said COO Vipul Prakash. “Compared to bookings in the same period last year, hotel bookings for stays more than two days increased by 20%; and family travel with more than two members witnessed growth by over seven times,’’ Prakash said, adding that bookings for travel during the festive dates are seeing a 35% jump.