Last-minute booking? Pay 10 times the usual air fare

Last-minute travellers are in for a rude shock as low-cost airlines are charging almost 10 times the usual fare.

“I had to shell out Rs34,000 on a JetLite Delhi-Mumbai flight on Monday evening,” said Jayant Jagtap, who is in the construction business. Usually, the air fare for this route is Rs3,500 on a low-cost airline.

Air tickets for Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Ahmedabad were anywhere between Rs21,000-Rs34,000 for one-way travel. Ironically, the fare on a Mumbai-London-Mumbai flight is Rs32,000.

“We have observed that air fares are the highest on low-cost carriers. For
instance, a one-way ticket to Ahmedabad, an hour-long flight, on SpiceJet was Rs21000 on Tuesday,” said Rajesh Rateria, chairman, Travel Agents Association of India.

“A Mumbai-Bangalore ticket was Rs19,000 last week, while Delhi-Bangalore was Rs21,000. This is because people are returning from their Diwali holidays and a lot of business travel is happening,”  Rateria explained.
However, aviation analyst Rajeev Batra, executive director, KPMG advisory services, differs.

“This quarter is the busiest for airlines every year on account of Diwali and Christmas. While the load factor is high, airlines have not enhanced their capacity, which they had reduced during the recession. Even air turbine fuel prices are higher,” said Batra.  

“Moreover, it is purely a demand and supply situation. If you are going to book tickets at the last moment, you will have to pay a high price. You get tickets at normal rates even if you book a day or two in advance,” he added.