Airfares from Mumbai soar by 50 per cent

On September 20, 181 flights were cancelled while several were delayed or re-scheduled. (File-Amit Chakravarty)

THREE DAYS after the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) witnessed flight disruptions after a SpiceJet aircraft skidded off the runway, leading to a 12-hour closure, airfares from Mumbai to other metro cities have witnessed a significant rise. According to travel booking portals, ticket costs from Mumbai to Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata have seen a 50 per cent increase.

On September 20, 181 flights were cancelled while several were delayed or re-scheduled. Airlines, however, claimed they had offered complete refunds, waived cancellation charges and offered alternative or special flights to the passengers.

According to the data obtained, airfares were highest for bookings made on Thursday and Friday last week. For example: fare for routes between Hyderabad and Mumbai were escalated to about Rs 23,666, Rs 10,608 and Rs 4,495 on September 21, 22 and 23, while the regular fare for these routes is Rs1,600.

Airfares from Mumbai to Delhi and Bengaluru also saw a significant rise. Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C), Yatra.com, said, “Amidst heavy rainfall in Mumbai, airfares to and from the city were higher than usual. The downpour had disrupted the railways and roadways’ network. Hence, many people had to reschedule their plans, resulting in higher airfares.” Other booking portals also faced a spike in cancellation of bookings on the days the flight services were disrupted in the city.

Balu Ramachandran, head, Air and Distribution, Cleartrip.com, Mumbai, said, “The second largest airport in the country didn’t see a dip in bookings for September 20 and 21. We saw a 20 per cent spike in cancellation though. The ticket prices increased by six and seven per cent for flights to and from Mumbai on 20th September, compared to the previous day.”

John Nair, head (Business Travel), Cox & Kings, said, “With over 100 flight cancellations and diversions over the last two days, spot airfares have shot up, caused by the backlog and pent up demands for travel. This is a busy time for corporate travel. Airfares shot up by at least 60 per cent on metro routes.”

Passengers were equally affected by the disruption of flight services. While some claimed that immediate bookings after the airport resumed services pinched their pockets more, others rescheduled or chose to take other modes of transport.

Sanjeev Kumar said, “I wanted to fly to Dehradun for a business meeting on September 20 but had to cancel the plan due to heavy rain. Airfares had shot up on Thursday but as I had to fly out immediately, I did book a ticket.”

Tatkal transactions on Indian Rail Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) also witnessed a spike. “The average number of tatkal transactions went up to 20 per cent on September 19 and 20, which is higher than the normal days,” said Uday Somayajula, co-founder of ePayLater, which allows passengers to book rail tickets on credit.

Subhashish Das, another commuter, added, “I wanted to travel to Kolkata the immediate day after fights were cancelled in Mumbai for Durga pooja. However, the ticket costs were extremely high. As I plan my trips quite late, I instead preferred to go by train where seats were very much available at decent prices.”

Hotel bookings also witnessed a considerable dip on the day the operations were affected. Aloke Bajpai, CEO & Cofounder of Ixigo travel booking platform said, “Talking about hotels, our partners and us received combined cancellations of about 1,000 bookings within a 48 hours.”