Outbound ticket prices from Mumbai skyrocket up to almost five times the usual, as consumer groups raise alarm
Air ticket prices are expected to reduce after the festive season. Representation pic
As Indians gear up to travel during the upcoming holiday season, a sharp spike in domestic airfares has left travellers grappling with unexpected financial burdens. Mumbai, a key travel hub, has witnessed some of the steepest increases, with ticket prices on certain routes surging by almost five times. The Mumbai Grahak Panchayat has raised alarm over these sudden fare hikes, lodging complaints with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs to highlight the soaring costs on routes serviced by major airlines.
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Ticket prices for flights from Mumbai to popular destinations have surged to more than double the regular price and in some sectors, the prices have surged to triple, quadruple or even more, than the regular amount. Sirish Deshpande of the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat told mid-day, “Airlines are arbitrarily managing their fares. They jack up the prices during the festival season taking advantage of the travel demand. Our question to the consumer affairs ministry and civil aviation ministry is very simple—is there any authority to regulate airfares? What is the Ministry of Civil Aviation doing to regulate the fares?”
According to Deshpande, the consumer body has written two letters to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and the Central Consumer Protection Authority, one on Tuesday (December 3) and another on Friday (December 6), to intervene in this matter. The letter sent on December 3 reads: “We have received complaints from several air travellers about a steep hike in airfares by all airlines (including budget airlines). There are complaints that airfares have doubled or tripled in some sectors. In our enquiries, we found there is substance in these complaints.” The letter also listed normal airfares along with the fares charged after the festive season hike.
Deshpande added, “Airlines jacking up the fares is a type of unfair trade practice. These airlines are supposed to be budget airlines. How can they call themselves budget airlines and also be unaffordable to people? We are raising some basic fundamental issues. Somebody has to stop this practice. We do not understand the rationale for increasing the fares to such an extent. It is understandable that the capacity on routes has decreased and fuel prices have increased to some extent, but this does not justify an increase in fares to such a great extent.
After the holiday season is over, the fares will return to normal. Now the question arises that if fuel prices have gone up, which airlines claim is the cause of an increase in fares, will the fuel prices reduce after the holiday season when the airlines lower the fares again?” A recent study by the Airports Council International Asia-Pacific & Middle East revealed that India recorded a 43 per cent increase in domestic airfares during the first half of 2024 compared to pre-pandemic levels. This places India second in the region for fare hikes, following Vietnam, which experienced a 63 per cent surge during the same period.
Experts attribute the sharp rise in air travel fares to a combination of increased demand and limited seat availability. “With the holiday season being a peak travel period, the demand increases but the number of seats in a particular sector remains the same. That being said, the prices increase. Airlines earlier were looking at load factor (number of passengers) to capture the market. However, since the load factor has been achieved, the airlines are shifting towards the yield factors. This has been happening for years,” said Captain Mohan Ranganathan, a seasoned aviator and an aviation expert.
Captain Ranganathan added, “Sadly, we cannot implement a price capping on tickets like some countries abroad. This is why passengers would find it surprising that a Mumbai to Dubai flight ticket would cost approximately the same as Mumbai to Delhi or Mumbai to Bangalore flight tickets.” Another aviation expert, on condition of anonymity, told mid-day, “In order to ascertain the reasons behind the increasing flight fares, we also have to check the airlines and number of aircraft in that sector. For example, if multiple airlines fly in a particular sector, passengers have a choice and will select one with the lowest ticket cost.
This discourages airlines from increasing the fares compared to their rivals in that sector. Meanwhile, if only one or two airlines fly in another sector, the prices will definitely increase as the number of seats is less but the demand increases. All this depends on demand and supply and there are multiple variables to this.”
Meanwhile, citizens took to social media platform X to voice their concerns. Sikandar Azam, a corporate employee, posted, “The airfare of #airlines in India has gone abnormally high. From #Guwahati to #Mumbai the fare is Rs 25,300—400 per cent up from the normal fare… @IndiGo6E how would you justify it? @JM_Scindia ji kindly take a serious note… @PMOIndia @RahulGandhi.”
Another X user, Santosh Ojha, posted, “Rs 26,979! Price I paid on this evening’s Ahmedabad to Bengaluru flight. Highest I've ever paid for any domestic flight ticket. Normal fare is R7K. Booking done 20 hours prior to travel. Charge me more, but 4 times more? Those in power must step in and put a stop to this pricing madness.”
Rs 4,400
Regular fare to Kolkata
Rs 25,000
Current fare to Kolkata
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