Soon your airfares may become cheap as number of flights increase

By October end at least 40 domestic flights and around 10 international flights will be operating to and fro Mumbai airport, according to Hindustan Times report. 

Number of passenger seats will go up by 6,000 in domestic flights due to increase in the number of flights. Between October 20, 2015 and March 24, 2016, the number of international flights seats is likely to go up by 3,000, reports HT.

Reportedly, industry experts say that this increase in the number of seats will eventually cut costs of airfares. 

Since the winter schedule last year, Mumbai city airport has added 70 domestic  and 24 international flights, according to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). 

"An increase in the supply of passengers' seats will automatically rationalise fares," said a senior executive with an aviation think tank to HT.

A Fort based travel operator also agreed that fare cuts were likely. "Most Indian carriers using the Airbus 320 fleet use a 180-seat configuration. Even if you take a conservative estimate of 150 seats, the flight addition would increase the number of domestic seats by 6,000", he added.

Reportedly, experts complain about the lack of long-route international flights. "Most of the international  flights are assigned for short distance routes such as Dubai, Doha and Singapore."

Travel operators told HT more flights to the West could have benefited fliers.