While airfares of India-UK flights have soared to lakhs for the month of August, Emirates, Etihad and Turkish Airlines airlines are offering flights for the route at fares between ₹20,000 and ₹35,000 for mid-September. So, if you have plans of visiting Britain, by waiting for a month, you can save a whopping amount of money. Also, now the number of flights operating is much lesser as compared to the demand. Once more flights start running on the route, fares are expected to dip to normal levels.
Delhi-London Economy Class Flight Fares Soar To ₹3.95 Lakhs
Due to pent-up demand for international flights at present, journey fares have skyrocketed. The bulky hike in fares has been attributed to some other factors as well. A British Airways Delhi-London flight economy-class ticket was priced as high as ₹3.95 lakhs for August 26, as tweeted by Sanjeev Gupta, Secretary, Inter-State Council Secretariat, Union Home Ministry. He also stated that economy-class tickets for the same route on Vistara and Air India were between ₹1.2 lakhs and ₹2.3 lakhs on the same date.
Fare of ₹ 3.95 lakh one way Delhi to London on Aug 26. No, it's not 1st class. It's economy on @British_Airways. @airindiain @airvistara etc. also 1.2 to 2.3 lakh. College admission time! See minimum fare on @GoogleTravel in August. Have alerted Secretary @MoCA_GoI. @JM_Scindia pic.twitter.com/uxFF8dgaLk
— Sanjeev Gupta (@sanjg2k1) August 7, 2021
Also Read: Centre Allows Those Fully Vaccinated To Travel Without RT-PCR Report
Delhi-Toronto Flight Fares For One Way Business Class Priced Over ₹9 Lakhs; Economy-Class Fares Hiked From Mumbai Too
According to the data on EaseMyTrip.com, the average fare of economy-class flights from Delhi to the US’s Newark soared from ₹69,034 in July to ₹87,542 in August. Mumbai-Moscow economy-class average flight fares have hiked from ₹43,132 in July to ₹85,024 in August. For Mumbai to Doha, the fares have increased from around ₹11,719 to ₹18,384. In reply to Gupta’s tweet, Shivani Sharma Dasmahapatra wrote, “This is Delhi – Toronto one way Business Class price quoted for 18 September – ₹9.68 lk !!”
https://twitter.com/_ShivaniSD/status/1423962374206197760?s=20
DGCA Has Asked Airlines To Submit Details Of Fare Hikes
As reported by Business Standard, Nishant Pitti, CEO and Co-founder of EaseMyTrip.com, said that while the increase in demand for international flights has resulted in fare hikes, rising fuel costs and lower seat availability are some other factors. Also, UK has relaxed travel curbs for Indian passengers, removing quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers. Replying to Gupta’s tweet, Air India wrote, “Sir, We are trying to identify the source of these fares. The current fares available on our official website for Delhi London sector is approximately 1.15 L.” Vistara spokesperson has stated: “Pricing is always a function of supply and demand. There are only 15 flights a week allowed currently on India – UK route for Indian carriers and when there is relaxation and more capacity allowed, it will automatically bring down prices.”
Meanwhile, The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked the airlines to submit details about the hiked air ticket prices for India-UK flights in August. Since May 25, 2020, lower and upper limits were imposed for domestic flights. But such limits were not commanded on international flights.