NEW DELHI: If you are planning to fly at short notice by any domestic airline, get ready to pay through your nose. The massive cancellation of Air India flights has resulted in the airline booking seats in bulk for its passengers on other carriers. With their own advance bookings and AI's passengers, airlines have very few seats available off the counter. The ones up for grabs fall in the premium category and burn a hole in the pocket.
This impact of the AI strike on last minute travelers was revealed when the Directorate General of Civil Aviation sought a report from airlines on fares charged by them on Tuesday, on the first day of the AI strike. Airlines have also been asked to give a chart of the fares charged on those routes a day earlier as well so that a comparison can be made.
"The fares are on the higher side but within the price bands that airlines have to give for each route. While there has been no cranking up of fares to encash on the strike, pre-booking and the accommodation of AI passengers has meant that very few seats are left for spot selling. These are going for the highest price bands set for those routes," said an official.
Airlines have 12-14 price brackets for each route with the first few tickets on sale being the cheapest. Fares keep rising as more tickets get sold. The last few seats are sold in the highest price band. Airlines had to start publicising the fare bands on their websites after the government pulled them up for charging exorbitant rates during the Diwali last year.
If one were to check tickets online, they would see that most flights have either few tickets left or have are left with premium class tickets. In some cases flying international is more reasonable than flying international. The starting fare for most metro sectors is over Rs 6,000 and going up to a massive Rs 15,000-Rs 25,000. The highest fare for a direct flight between Delhi and Chennai for Friday was Rs 25,530. Compared to this, the ticket for a direct flight to Bangkok cost between Rs 12,000 and Rs 17,000.
Aniruddha Agarwal, a software engineer who reached the IGI Airport on Thursday afternoon to purchase a ticket for Mumbai said: "My eyes popped out when I was told that no tickets were available till the evening and the only ticket in the evening was also worth Rs 24,000. I had no option but to buy it as I have to attend the meeting. Also since my office will take care of the expenses it really doesn't affect me but I hope there are no family emergencies that happen as these fares are prohibitive," he said.
This impact of the AI strike on last minute travelers was revealed when the Directorate General of Civil Aviation sought a report from airlines on fares charged by them on Tuesday, on the first day of the AI strike. Airlines have also been asked to give a chart of the fares charged on those routes a day earlier as well so that a comparison can be made.
"The fares are on the higher side but within the price bands that airlines have to give for each route. While there has been no cranking up of fares to encash on the strike, pre-booking and the accommodation of AI passengers has meant that very few seats are left for spot selling. These are going for the highest price bands set for those routes," said an official.
Airlines have 12-14 price brackets for each route with the first few tickets on sale being the cheapest. Fares keep rising as more tickets get sold. The last few seats are sold in the highest price band. Airlines had to start publicising the fare bands on their websites after the government pulled them up for charging exorbitant rates during the Diwali last year.
If one were to check tickets online, they would see that most flights have either few tickets left or have are left with premium class tickets. In some cases flying international is more reasonable than flying international. The starting fare for most metro sectors is over Rs 6,000 and going up to a massive Rs 15,000-Rs 25,000. The highest fare for a direct flight between Delhi and Chennai for Friday was Rs 25,530. Compared to this, the ticket for a direct flight to Bangkok cost between Rs 12,000 and Rs 17,000.
Aniruddha Agarwal, a software engineer who reached the IGI Airport on Thursday afternoon to purchase a ticket for Mumbai said: "My eyes popped out when I was told that no tickets were available till the evening and the only ticket in the evening was also worth Rs 24,000. I had no option but to buy it as I have to attend the meeting. Also since my office will take care of the expenses it really doesn't affect me but I hope there are no family emergencies that happen as these fares are prohibitive," he said.
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