Prices Of International Flight Tickets In India Could Fall By 40%: Know How Much And Why

There¡¯s a good news for everyone who¡¯s looking forward to travel after a long wait owing to pandemic-induced restrictions.

The international ticket prices could get cheaper by 50 percent in near future. Yes, that¡¯s right.

Why is it happening?

But, why? This is bound to happen since the government had recently announced the lifting of the ban on international commercial flights after almost two years.

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Airfare had increased during the peak of the pandemic due to the fact that there were lesser flights operating. However, there was an air bubble agreement between a few countries and India.

Limited capacity had pushed airfares up to 100% higher, compared to before the pandemic, on some routes such as India-US.

How many flights will increase?

Homegrown airline Indigo is expected to resume over 100 international flights, while international carriers like Lufthansa and group carrier Swiss plan to almost double flights in the next few months. Singapore Airlines may increase flights by 17%, said executives at these airlines.

Not too long ago, India said it will resume scheduled commercial flight operations to international destinations from March 27, restarting unrestricted travel after two years and for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

What will be the reduced prices be?

¡°Suspension of regular international flights had created a demand-supply imbalance, making international travel expensive for certain routes under the bubble agreements,¡± said Aloke Bajpai, group chief executive of travel portal Ixigo. ¡°With capacity coming back and with an increase in connectivity and more routes, we can expect international fares returning to pre-Covid levels.¡±

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The expected fall in international airfares is also likely to help cushion the fresh rise in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices amid the surge in crude oil prices following Russia¡¯s military operations in Ukraine. ATF prices have been increased five times this year, on top of a 100% increase last year.

Singapore Airlines currently operates 52 weekly flights from eight cities across India. From March 21, it plans to progressively ramp up to 61 weekly flights, with increased frequencies from Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi, Kochi and Mumbai.

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Scoot, the airline¡¯s low-cost subsidiary, operates 22 times weekly from five cities in India.

Lufthansa and Swiss, which have 22 weekly flights now, will increase the count to 42 by October this year, said a spokesperson.