Airfares Surge High On the Gulf-India Route

Those planning to travel between India and the gulf countries are certainly a disappointed lot now as airfares between the two destinations have absurdly surged up. Thousands looking for cheap flight tickets to India from the Gulf cities of Dubai, Jeddah, Muscat and Abu Dhabi will now have to face the whammy of absurdly increased airfares.

The main reasons that have propelled the absurd increase in the airfares are the plunging rupee exchange rates and the lack of aircrafts on the route due to Air India's ongoing strike.

Air India’s recent strike has resulted in a 50% reduction in the capacity of Air India Express, the low cost subsidiary of Air India famous for offering cheap flights to India. Air India Express was forced to ground its 14 out of 21 A-320 aircraft.

The direct flights to India connecting gulf countries to Indian cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Kochi are completely booked for the coming weeks with no seats vacant. Resultantly, many travellers planning holiday breaks or business tours to India now are forced to buy expensive tickets on flights involving long route to the country via London and other European cities.

With low cost carriers like IndiGo and SpiceJet offering airline deals starting at INR 9,000 from Mumbai and Delhi and INR 11,000 from other South Indian cities, the airfares on the routes have gone up by 40-60 %.

Though SpiceJet and IndiGo have added aircrafts to their fleet, they have not been able to meet the increasing travel demand.