KOCHI: Flight ticket prices phenomenally used to go over the roof during the Onam–Bakrid season as people flocked to the state to celebrate festivals.
Anticipating public displeasure over this, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan requested the Union Civil Aviation Ministry to give permission for additional services to airline companies to ease traffic woes during the festival season.
However, it hardly evoked a response with no airline company except Air India Express approaching the ministry seeking permission for additional services to Kerala.
Nonetheless, the average flight ticket prices to Kerala from UAE was only Rs 11,130 during Onam season, as per the booking status on August 25, says Paytm Travel, one of the leading travel aggregators in the country.
The average airfare to Kochi from Riyadh, Muscat, Doha were Rs 12,914, Rs 12,231 and Rs 19,051 respectively, as on August 25. The average ticket price to airports in Kerala and Tamil Nadu from other domestic airports in the country was Rs 5,087, as per the booking data of August 25.
According to the data compiled by Paytm Travel, ixigo and Wandertrails, Dubai accounts for the lion’s share of the air traffic to Kerala from the UAE during Onam with an aggregate booking of 81 per cent, followed by Sharjah at 10 per cent and Abu Dhabi at 9 per cent.
Though air ticket prices to Kerala witnessed only a marginal rise for passengers who booked tickets in advance, those booking closer to the festival dates will have to shell out huge sums with prices hovering between Rs 15,000 to 40,000.
Besides as per the current trend, the return flights to Middle East countries will also be very expensive.
Similarly, the survey conducted by Paytm, based on the booking status of August 25, found the average train fare to major stations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu from the rest of the country was Rs 626, while the bus fare was Rs 740.
On the domestic front, trains constitute 56 per cent of the total passenger traffic to Kerala; flights make up 23 per cent, followed by bus journeys constituting 22 per cent. On the international front, male travellers make up 59 per cent of the total traffic.
Biji Eapen, national president of IATA Agents Association of India, said the soaring flight ticket prices can’t be brought under control effectively on special occasions without increasing the flight services to Kerala from the Middle East destinations during festival season.
Further, in a state like Kerala where three international airports are already operational and another one will be launched in a few months, no airline company will think of pressing into service large Boeing, wide-bodied aircraft capable of carrying 700 passengers on a regular basis. Moreover, the Centre Government should intervene to tame the airline companies by making necessary interventions, he said.