After spiking in recent months on several of the main domestic routes, domestic Airfares have since fallen due to high expenses.
Domestic carriers Akasa Air, IndiGo, Air Asia, GoFirst, and Vistara have all lowered fares just a few days after the government abolished fare caps.
Prices have decreased on all of Akasa Air’s routes. Mumbai-Bengaluru flights are available for between Rs 2,000 and Rs 2,200, and Mumbai-Ahmedabad airfares are around Rs 1,400.
The identical seats cost approximately Rs 3,948 and Rs 5,008 as of August.
IndiGo, the biggest airline in the nation, has matched Akasa Air’s prices on both routes, and GoFirst has also significantly reduced its prices on these routes.
Similar to this, prices for flights between Delhi and Lucknow have decreased recently. The current price ranges from Rs 1,900 to Rs 2,200, with Air Asia and IndiGo providing the lowest prices. Previously, the cheapest seats on this trip ranged in price from Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,000.
The cheapest flights on this route are now being offered by GoFirst, IndiGo, and Air Asia, with prices between Kochi and Bengaluru dropping as low as Rs 1,100 and Rs 1,300.
Prices on the Mumbai-Jaipur route have decreased recently, going from approximately Rs 5,000–5,500 to only Rs 3,900.
According to aviation industry analysts, the new pricing reflect India’s competitive environment. The fact that all airlines have lowered their pricing is a good indicator for the future of the sector.
Lower prices are a result of competition, demand, supply, costs, and possible cargo revenues in addition to airlines trying to gain or hold market share.
Ameya Joshi, an aviation specialist, warned that “such intense rivalry could either push the weakest competitor out of the industry, or, if everyone decides to stick around, prolong their road to profitability.”
Senior airline officials claimed that the decline in costs on numerous flights around India was partly a result of lower demand during the current quarter, which runs from July to September and is considered India’s low season for travel.
They also said that although costs might somewhat increase in advance of the next festival season, they will probably stay lower than they were when fare caps were in effect.
A top airline executive stated that the recent uptick in corporate travel is a positive development and offers airlines the assurance to drop ticket rates.
“Corporate travel has been increasing passenger load factors over the previous few months. As a result, the sector has breathing room to cut prices “added the official.
To prevent price hikes, the Indian government set price limits on domestic flights in May 2020. Such charge categories will be phased away by the end of August 2022, the administration recently announced.
After almost two years of high fuel prices, the airline official stated last week that the sector was anticipating the new pricing structure for aviation turbine fuel (ATF).
“Once the process is in place, customers will benefit from cheaper ticket prices,” he continued. “The new ATF pricing structure will not only help airlines lower their fuel expenses.
He continued by saying that costs on metro routes would probably drop significantly because ATF prices are likely to be cheaper when delivered in major metro areas like Delhi and Mumbai.
