Airfares on certain routes surged over 10-fold after the cancellation of as many as 1000 flights by India's largest airline triggered panic.
Flight booking platforms showed that Air India's one-stop Delhi-Bengaluru flight for Friday night was priced above the Rs 1 lakh mark, a record high never seen before.
The sudden cancellation of flights by IndiGo due to pilot and cabin crew shortage has drastically reduced the number of available seats, causing a sharp rise in last-minute ticket prices across sectors, especially to and from Delhi. IndiGo domestic flights scheduled to depart on Friday (December 5) were cancelled until 11:59 pm.
Air India, the next largest alternative to IndiGo, is quoting fares 5-6 times higher than usual on busy routes for the coming days, as IndiGo's disruption is expected to last at least 10 more days. Smaller carriers like Akasa Air and SpiceJet are aggressively capitalising on the opportunity.
While Air India's website and app show none to very limited seats available from Delhi to Bengaluru, Mumbai and Chennai between Friday and Sunday, a few travel platforms were seen selling tickets at astonishing prices.
Crazy prices
On Friday about 2 pm, an Air India one-stop flight from Delhi to Bengaluru for Friday night was quoted at Rs 1.02 lakh while a non-stop SpiceJet ticket on the same route was priced around Rs 93,719. Airfares between the Hyderabad–Delhi route also shot up, with one-stop Air India tickets surging to Rs 70,000.
Delhi–Mumbai tickets on Air India were selling for as much as Rs 60,000 on Friday for the same-day flight, while Chennai–Delhi tickets on Air India Express were quoted at Rs 41,000. Even the short-duration Hyderabad–Bengaluru tickets were sold between Rs 35,000 and Rs 40,000 on Friday. Regular fares on these sectors typically range between Rs 4,000 and Rs 8,000.
Going forward, very few seats are available on busy routes given that IndiGo dominates India's aviation market with a 2/3 market share. For Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Air India is selling Delhi-Mumbai tickets at a starting price of Rs 33,275. Akasa and SpiceJet too are asking exorbitant prices.
'Unfortunate as this is the peak travel season'
Rajiv Mehra, General Secretary at Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) said that it is a nightmarish situation for travellers.
"It (flight cancellations) has derailed the travel plan of common people. This could have been avoided if there had been a bit of coordination between Indigo and DGCA, the sector's regulator. To the travel industry this situation has happened at the most unfortunate time as this is the peak travel season," stated Mehra.
IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers on Friday apologised amid a slew of flight cancellations, stating that the situation is expected to return to normal between December 10 and 15.
"Regrettably, earlier measures of the last few days have proven not to be enough. So we decided today for a reboot of all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest number of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting tomorrow onwards," Elbers said in a video message.