Airfares from city nosedive during current Covid surge Airlines Start Offering Sops To Woo Flyers Before Summer

 Airfares from city nosedive during current Covid surge

Airlines Start Offering Sops To Woo Flyers Before Summer

---

Joy.Sengupta@timesgroup.com

15.01.2022

Pune: Airfares from Pune to many cities have nosedived amid the current rise in Covid cases, a trend not witnessed during the first and second waves of the pandemic.

One-way airfares from the city to several destinations revealed that the decrease in the current tariff (see graphic) was between 40% and 60% on an average from what it used to be in the recent past and the trend was likely to continue in February.

The one-way fare for the Pune-Goa sector, which was almost Rs6,000 to Rs7,000 during the New Year Eve, has dropped to Rs3,500-Rs3,700 now. Similarly, the one-way fare between Pune and Delhi, which until late last year was Rs6,000-Rs6,500, presently rests at less than half.

“Airfares never really reached the pre-pandemic levels, mainly due to the cap and un- certainty related to travel. In 2019, a Pune-Goa one-way ticket would cost anything between Rs13,000 and Rs14,000 during the Christmas and New Year Eve period. We are witnessing a new low in terms of airfares, something which is a rare trend,” a travel company representative said.

Another travel company representative said, “The country has witnessed two major waves of the pandemic since 2020. But the airfares had not gone down then as seen during the ongoing third wave of the pandemic. Fresh bookings for vacations have drastically gone down. The decreased fares are, however, helping holidayers take some risks and book tickets for a trip to their favourite destinations during the coming summer months. ”

However, the airfares in sectors such as Kolkata, Ladakh and Chennai continued to be high in the range of Rs7,000 to Rs9,000, or even more. “These are places where the demand is more than supply. Kolkata, for example, has limited flights from Delhi, Mumbai and Pune,” a travel operator said.

A source associated with the industry said during the earlier surge in cases, there was an extended cap on airfares fixed by the government.

“After airlines resumed operations in May 2020 , the cap on airfares was fixed for three months (until August last week, 2020). It was in September last year only that the cap on airfares was reduced to 15 days. But at that time, travel had picked up due to the relaxed norms and fewer Covid cases,” an airline source said.

“As a result, the fares were high after 15 days at any given month. But this time, the situation is different. Despite the 15-day airfare cap, the subsequent 15 days (of a month) are witnessing very few flyers,” the source added.

Almost all airlines have floated schemes such as free meals and no charges for rescheduling/cancellation on certain sectors, seats with extra leg room and preferred seats to attract flyers.

“We want people to take advantage of the current low fares and book their tickets for the upcoming summer months. The situation will improve in sometime and travel will resume in full form,” an airline official said.