Air traffic up, so are fares on most routes from city

Air traffic up, so are fares on most routes from city

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:15.08.2021

The number of domestic flights must be increasing as life is returning to normal, but the fares remain high on most of the routes from Chennai.

The one way fare remains high for travel in the coming week including for the weekend for a week's advance booking.

Air fare on domestic routes have increased for travel on next Thursday as it's an extended weekend as Friday is a holiday. This is the first time air fares are up for an extended weekend from the city. Chennai-Mumbai one-way tickets sell at ₹5,800 to ₹6,000 while a ticket to Delhi sells at more than ₹7,000. One way fare is ₹5,000 to Kolkata. Air fares are more than ₹6,000 for small towns like Goa, Ranchi, Jaipur, Mysuru, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. Airlines used to charge this range of fares for one or two day's advance booking.

The number of flights have increased at Chennai airport. So have the passengers. The airport now handles 80 departures and 80 arrivals per day with more than 10,000 people departing everyday.

An airport official said that the flights are more because people have started to travel for business and leisure. "The government's move to allow people to travel inter-state with vaccination certificates will lead to a boom. None of the flights are going empty as it used to be before. The loads have increased in recent days."

Nevertheless, the passengers are not able to enjoy the benefits as the airlines keep their starting fares high.

Basheer Ahmed of Chennai Metro Travels said that airlines continue to keep the fare high. "This is affecting people flying abroad via Mumbai or Delhi as the domestic leg is expensive," he added. It looks like the air fares are set to remain high for weeks as airlines have suffered losses during the pandemic.

Mohan Chandramouli a former Air India official said, "The number of flights must be increasing but the numbers are far lower than what it used to be in the pre-Covid days. The airlines have been incurring expenses for maintenance of aircraft, periodic changing of parts, fees for leasing, cost of staff and others even if planes are not being operated. The air fare is kept high to get the maximum revenue."