The travel trade has said it had observed a 23% spike in air ticket bookings from February 15 over three days amidst offers by Air India and IndiGo and drop in airfares to countries like Thailand in wake of the spread of COVID-19.
Travel and hotel booking e-commerce website Ixigo said they have seen a 23% growth in domestic flight bookings for February 15 to and 18 as compared to the previous week. With travel to mainland China and even Hong Kong severely restricted over several weeks, the fare on sectors like Mumbai-Bangkok (one way) for February 22 was ₹5,658.
IndiGo has a four-day sale across its network. The sale, which will end on Friday, is offering customers an all-inclusive fare on international flights, starting at a ₹ 3,499. The sale is valid on travel from March 1 to September 30. William Boulter, chief commercial officer, IndiGo, said, “The sale will help customers plan their international travel in advance at more affordable fares.”
Reji Philip of Fort-based travel agency Cosmos, said two things typically move airfares: the number of seats versus passengers and fuel prices, and both are in favour of flyers in India. “The impact of coronavirus is stopping airfares from going out of reach,” he said.
Air India officials said their special airfare sale had been received well. Under the two-day flash sale, which ended on February 17, domestic flights on Air India’s route started from ₹799 while on international flights, fares began from ₹4,500.
According to data released by aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the domestic air passenger traffic in January increased by 2.2% to 1.27 crore as compared to the same month in 2019.
Among major domestic airlines, Air India topped the list of passenger grievances with 1.9 complaints per 10,000 passengers in September, while GoAir was in second place with one complaint per 10,000 passengers, the data showed.
