Flying to Mumbai, Delhi? You may end up paying more than a Sharjah ticket
Shishir Arya | TNN | Mar 25, 2019, 04:23 IST
Nagpur: Withdrawal of flights by crisis-ridden Jet Airways has affected Nagpur the most among all centres. With Jet’s flights to major cities like Mumbai and Delhi cancelled, airfares of other airlines have touched the sky.
Airlines like Air India, Go Air and Indigo are the only domestic carriers operating from Nagpur these days, and operating flights to major centres like Mumbai and Delhi. Jet Airways now only flies from Nagpur to Allahabad and Indore. The route has been allotted to it under the regional connectivity scheme of the central government.
It began with Jet cancelling one flight each to Mumbai and Delhi in February, and by March all flights had been withdrawn.
A quick search on booking portals and the airlines’ own website shows that the rates have gone up by at least 50% compared to the usual levels, and even 200% in some cases. Spot fares to Mumbai are more than a one-way ticket from Nagpur to Sharjah for this weekend.
A ticket to Mumbai for Monday costs anywhere between Rs12,000 to 17,000. This is more than double the rates expected for last minute booking in normal times. As against this, a ticket to Sharjah for the weekend costs a little over Rs11,000 per head.
Tickets for Delhi are cheaper comparatively, but still above the normal level. Air tickets to the national capital for Monday are in the range of Rs7,200 to 8,000 for the economy class.
Tickets to Delhi for March 27 are in the range of Rs6,200 to 7,600. There is a little change in the fare for flights in the first week of April too.
Passengers also have to take longer routes via different centres. Earlier, there were many option to fly directly to Delhi, which takes less than two hours. These days, any given airline is not offering more than 2-3 direct flights to Delhi on a given day, with the rest being hopping or connecting flights. This takes anywhere between 3.45 hours to over 7 hours.
Even for Mumbai, apart from a couple of direct flights airlines are offering routes which take around 6 hours to reach Mumbai, which otherwise takes just a hour-and-a-half. The same is true with flights to Kolkata too.
Shyam Dewani, an advocate and frequent flyer, said “The rates for Mumbai a couple of days ago were over Rs15,000 for Air India. There are three flights to Mumbai on Monday. However, by Sunday evening tickets were available only in one at over Rs17,000.” As Jet Airways has withdrawn many flights, other airlines appear to be cashing in on the crisis, he said.
Chartered accountant Julfesh Shah said earlier average fare to Mumbai was in the range of Rs3,500, but now it is anywhere between Rs7,000 to as high as Rs15,000. This has disturbed the calculations of many frequent flyers. “I need to fly to Mumbai or Delhi at short notices and have to shell out heavy amounts,” he said,
“I had to reach Delhi for urgent official work, however, there is no direct flight and the one via Indore has fares of more than Rs12,000.” said a central government official.
SKY-HIGH FARES
Nagpur to Mumbai for Monday Rs15,000 to 17,000
In normal course, last minute bookings cost Rs7,000 to 9,000
Nagpur-Delhi for Monday was Rs7,200 to 8,000
Usual last minute rates on this sector are Rs4,500 to 5,000
Nagpur-Sharjah for weekend costs Rs11,000 and return Rs9,000 after 3-4 days
Lack of direct flights also requiring 3 to 7 hours to reach Mumbai or Delhi
Airlines like Air India, Go Air and Indigo are the only domestic carriers operating from Nagpur these days, and operating flights to major centres like Mumbai and Delhi. Jet Airways now only flies from Nagpur to Allahabad and Indore. The route has been allotted to it under the regional connectivity scheme of the central government.
It began with Jet cancelling one flight each to Mumbai and Delhi in February, and by March all flights had been withdrawn.
A quick search on booking portals and the airlines’ own website shows that the rates have gone up by at least 50% compared to the usual levels, and even 200% in some cases. Spot fares to Mumbai are more than a one-way ticket from Nagpur to Sharjah for this weekend.
A ticket to Mumbai for Monday costs anywhere between Rs12,000 to 17,000. This is more than double the rates expected for last minute booking in normal times. As against this, a ticket to Sharjah for the weekend costs a little over Rs11,000 per head.
Tickets for Delhi are cheaper comparatively, but still above the normal level. Air tickets to the national capital for Monday are in the range of Rs7,200 to 8,000 for the economy class.
Tickets to Delhi for March 27 are in the range of Rs6,200 to 7,600. There is a little change in the fare for flights in the first week of April too.
Passengers also have to take longer routes via different centres. Earlier, there were many option to fly directly to Delhi, which takes less than two hours. These days, any given airline is not offering more than 2-3 direct flights to Delhi on a given day, with the rest being hopping or connecting flights. This takes anywhere between 3.45 hours to over 7 hours.
Even for Mumbai, apart from a couple of direct flights airlines are offering routes which take around 6 hours to reach Mumbai, which otherwise takes just a hour-and-a-half. The same is true with flights to Kolkata too.
Shyam Dewani, an advocate and frequent flyer, said “The rates for Mumbai a couple of days ago were over Rs15,000 for Air India. There are three flights to Mumbai on Monday. However, by Sunday evening tickets were available only in one at over Rs17,000.” As Jet Airways has withdrawn many flights, other airlines appear to be cashing in on the crisis, he said.
Chartered accountant Julfesh Shah said earlier average fare to Mumbai was in the range of Rs3,500, but now it is anywhere between Rs7,000 to as high as Rs15,000. This has disturbed the calculations of many frequent flyers. “I need to fly to Mumbai or Delhi at short notices and have to shell out heavy amounts,” he said,
“I had to reach Delhi for urgent official work, however, there is no direct flight and the one via Indore has fares of more than Rs12,000.” said a central government official.
SKY-HIGH FARES
Nagpur to Mumbai for Monday Rs15,000 to 17,000
In normal course, last minute bookings cost Rs7,000 to 9,000
Nagpur-Delhi for Monday was Rs7,200 to 8,000
Usual last minute rates on this sector are Rs4,500 to 5,000
Nagpur-Sharjah for weekend costs Rs11,000 and return Rs9,000 after 3-4 days
Lack of direct flights also requiring 3 to 7 hours to reach Mumbai or Delhi
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