With Sathya Sai Baba's devotees queuing up for Puttaparthi for a last glimpse of their beloved guru, ticket prices for flights to Bangalore jumped up to five times.
Of all airports, the one at Bangalore is the closest to Puttaparthi (distance 150 km), where Sai Baba will be buried on
Wednesday.
On Monday afternoon, flight prices from Mumbai to Bangalore rose sharply. A Kingfisher flight for Monday evening was available for Rs. 14,851, while a GoAir flight on the same route cost R11,764.
"The rise in prices is a result of the demand, which went up as devotees came in big numbers to book a flight to Bangalore," said a senior official with a private airline.
High demand was also prevalent in New Delhi as the flight tickets to Bangalore went up by more than three times.
The fare for a Kingfisher Airlines flight from New Delhi to Bangalore on Monday was R25,178, while an Indigo airline ticket for the same came for Rs. 11,933.
Usually ticket prices for flights on either route cost anything between Rs. 5,000 and 7,000.
"There is high demand and very few tickets are available because besides affluent devotees, many VIPs are also making a beeline to get tickets to Bangalore and Hyderabad to attend the burial," said Shyam Bulusu, CEO, Vayuputra International, a travel organiser.