KOCHI: The airfare for international routes, especially the Gulf and the European sector, has seen a significant rise in the past few weeks. According to tour operators, fares have increased by at least 30-40% in recent days due to high travel demand by people coming to Kerala for Eid, and the spike in the aviation turbine fuel price.
The airfare for outbound travel to the Gulf region has also gone up, as per the information available on various travel websites and tour operators in the state. The airfare ranges between Rs 12,000 and Rs 55,000 from the state to the UAE destinations during the peak season. Before it, these ranged from Rs 8,000 to Rs 25,000. With school holidays in Gulf countries in July-August, the airfares are likely to remain high for another couple of months.
“During off-season, we could get tickets at 300 riyals (Rs 6,000) to Kochi from Abu Dhabi. We have booked tickets for July at 1,000 riyals (Rs 20,000),” said Soumesh, an NRI who is travelling for holidays to Kerala. The airline operators said the hike in aviation fuel price and the losses suffered in the past two years due to the pandemic led to a hike in ticket fares.
“There are millions of travellers to and from the UAE and European countries from Kerala alone. To recoup the losses faced in the last two years and cope with the AVT fuel price, the hike in airfares was expected,” said an airline operator. Moreover, the conclusion of Dubai Expo 2020 last month and the return of expatriates after spending holidays with their families in Kerala are the reasons for the high demand for flight tickets on the UAE route.
“Till mid-April, the one-way fare from the Gulf to Thiruvananthapuram was between AED (dirhams) 300 and AED 400. Now, the rates have shot up to AED 1,000-2,700,” said Manu P B, a Keralite working in Bahrain.
The fares are expected to come down in the next few weeks, before going up again in the July-August period. “This was a peak season with festivals in April, which coincided with the summer vacation in Kerala. It is a usual practice of airlines to increase the fares now, and later they will come down,” said a tour operator based in Kochi.
Despite the rising fares, international travel has increased this summer due to the delayed plans. “With the resumption of international flights after a gap of two years, the travel options for tourists have increased now,” said an official of an airline company.
