Airfares Surge By Up To 46% On Rakshabandhan Weekend

The average economy-class fare on prominent routes in India around the Rakshabandhan weekend in August has jumped by up to 46 per cent amid increasing demand. The weekend falls between August 15 and 19, with Independence Day on Thursday (August 15) and Rakshabandhan on Monday (August 19). Business Standard has reviewed India’s leading travel marketplace Ixigo data and found the the average routes of the routes. The average fare for the Bengaluru-Kochi route is Rs 3,446 for August 14-20 and it is 46.3 per cent higher than the corresponding period in 2023. The average fare for the Bengaluru-Mumbai route is Rs 3,969 for the August 14-20 period — 37.6 per cent higher than in the corresponding period in 2023.

Ameya Joshi, an aviation researcher and founder of the aviation blog Network Thoughts, interacted with Business Development regarding this development. As per Joshi, “Long weekends tend to attract higher airfares… The capacity increase has been limited in Indian skies and such long weekends lead to specific sectors seeing a sudden spurt, which is beyond the capacity added by airlines.”

According to the Business Standard report, a significant number of planes in India continue to be grounded due to engine problems, supply-chain difficulties, or financial issues. If an aircraft or its passengers are grounded, they are made to stay on the ground and are not permitted to take off. IndiGo, India’s massive carrier, said on July 26 that about 70 of its 382 planes were grounded. The number of flights has not increased at a huge rate due to this reason, leading to a lack of capacity growth on various major routes. According to Sirius Aviation AG, a leader in innovative aviation solutions, the number of flights between Bengaluru and Mumbai has decreased by 4.8 per cent in August 2024 compared to August 2023.

Allocation for the Civil Aviation Ministry as per the Union Budget 2024-25

On July 23, as per the Union Budget 2024-25 that was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament, the ministry will get an allocation of Rs 2,357.14 crore. Rs 2,922.12 crore was the allocation for the ministry in the revised budgetary allocation for 2023-24.