亚博体育官网首页

Holidaymakers who missed out on the recent spate of discounted domestic airfares may have to pay 30-40 per cent more for tickets to popular summer destinations in the country. Nearly 40 per cent of domestic airline tickets available for the mid-March to June period were snapped up earlier this year as airlines offered discounted fares.

Tour planners say that seat availability has been further crimped due to the grounding of Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines. People who did not book in advance could face a fare hike of at least 30 per cent. Airfares will spiral for holiday destinations anywhere from 30-40 per cent, said Richa Goyal Sikri, Director, Group Business Development, STIC Travel Group. Since January, SpiceJet and Jet Airways have given away three million air tickets for as less as Rs 2,000-3,000 in the latest move by the slowdown-hit industry to win back passengers lost to the railways.

In calendar year 2012, domestic air traffic had decelerated by 3 per cent for the same reason. Last time there was a fare drop by SpiceJet and Jet Airways, bookings shot up drastically and a major bulk of bookings have already taken place, said Ankur Bhatia, Executive Director of travel technology conglomerate Bird Group.

However, national carrier Air India and its rival, Jet Airways, are still offering discounts on bookings done at least 60 days before the intended travel date.