Ahead of Diwali weekend, airfares to Goa spike to 2x

PANAJI: As the long Diwali weekend approaches, the price of flight tickets to Goa have shot up again, with the fare on the Mumbai-Goa route at Rs 9,000 on October 25, a day before Bhai Dooj. The regular fare is around Rs 3,500.
On the day of Bhai Dooj, a single flight ticket from Ahmedabad to Goa is Rs 11,400 already, as compared to the usual fare of around Rs 5,000.
Flights from Kolkata are also being sold at a premium, with tickets costing nearly Rs 10,000 on the days leading up to Diwali. The usual fare is around Rs 6,500.
This year, Diwali is preceded by a weekend with the festival falling on a Monday and the celebrations continuing with Govardhan Puja on October 25 and Bhai Dooj on October 26. Flyers appear to have decided to make the best of the holidays by extending their break up to the weekend following Diwali, as flight prices out of Goa for the end of October have also doubled on most routes.
Air tickets to fly out of Goa to Delhi, Kolkata and Ahmedabad will cost upwards of Rs 10,000 for October 30 and 31.
A ticket to Mumbai is also already priced at Rs 8,000 for the end of October, which is more than double the normal fare.
Bus fares too have skyrocketed, with the price of a ticket having touched Rs 2,700-Rs 3,700 for a sleeper air-conditioned luxury bus on the Goa-Mumbai as also the Goa-Pune route on October 30 and 31. Similarly, a ticket for a luxury bus to Bengaluru costs up to Rs 4,000 already, with non-AC tickets going at Rs 1,800.