As soon as the floods hit Chennai and the airport was shut down owing to the inundation of the airfield, the airfares started rising in other sectors due to increasing demand.
In Bengaluru, on Friday, the ticket prices had sky-rocketed to an unbelievable high; and people in Chennai who had travelled to Bengaluru to fly out of the city were willing to pay up.
An economy ticket on Friday for a 9.30 p.m. Jet Airways flight from Bengaluru to Delhi was selling at Rs. 41,738 at 8 p.m. on online travel company MakeMyTrip. A seat on a Saturday morning 7 a.m. flight on the same carrier was priced at Rs. 32,197 on the company’s website. A Bengaluru-Delhi Saturday morning ticket on GoAir was priced at Rs. 17, 538.
Indigo Airlines announced that it had added extra flights out of Bengaluru to meet the demand, one to Mumbai and two to Delhi, but even then, tickets for a Saturday morning 8 a.m. flight to Delhi were selling for Rs. 14,519 the previous night.
Now, several days after the shutdown, the Chennai airport started the services on Sunday with three Air India flights, one flight Jet Airways and IndiGo flight respectively started operations; and beginning Monday, full-fledged operations are likely to start.
Though experts admit the fares are quite high, they are not abnormally high now. For instance, take the Chennai-Bangalore sector; though tickets are available for Rs. 4,000 there are ones even for Rs. 40,000 for the coming few days. The highest fare of Rs. 40,000 is certainly high; but this is not because of the current situation and is usually present even otherwise.
“The Chennai-Bangalore sector may be a bit high because, people are under the impression that they may not able to take international travel in Chennai and want to do it from Bangalore. But the highest fare of Rs. 40,000 is not exclusive to this season alone; it is high because the sector may have other transit points before the destination,” a travel agent said.
While the Chennai-Delhi sector ranges between Rs. 4,800-13,000, the Chennai-Bangalore is Rs. 5,300- 69,000. Travel agents say it may take sometime for the fares to normalise.
With the exception of a 6 p.m. Indigo Airlines flight available for Rs. 14, 465, there were no economy-flying options to Delhi from Bangalore. It was a marginally better scenario on Monday with Go Air tickets available for Rs. 16,109 for a 5 p.m. flight and Rs.14, 680 for an 8 p.m. flight. Jet Airways had a 9 p.m. flight for Rs. 12,159 and another one at Rs. 19,518.
Those flying to Mumbai from Bangalore faced a better scenario. Sunday flights at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. were available at Indigo within Rs. 15, 000 while Jet Airways had seats for two 9.45 p.m. flights priced between Rs. 10,000 and 15,000 while Go Air had an 8-50 p.m. flight for Rs. 19, 670.
