Festive airfare at par with rly sleeper class, bookings could fly past 10 million

Fuelled by flash sales offered by domestic airlines, study reveals bookings increased by 40% in October

Airfares usually climb during festive seasons but a flurry of flash sales made air tickets considerably cheaper this month as compared to the same period in September, found a study that compared fare differences across 24 domestic routes. The report by travel portal Ixigo.com states that average airfare between October 1 and 15 was 18% cheaper than for the same period last month.

For instance, a Mumbai-Chennai economy class one-way fare in October was Rs3,281 as compared to Rs4,249 in September. Similarly, a Mumbai-Ahmedabad journey was 14% cheaper this month. The study added that flight bookings this month increased by 40%.

Airfare for IndiGo started as low as Rs834, which is at par with sleeper class of some of the long-distance trains.

“Owing to the ongoing flash sale, we observed that most travellers booked flights for as far as the next 6 months. Airlines have offered fares as low as Rs835,” said Aloke Bajpai, chief executive officer and co-founder, Ixigo.com.

“There was a sporadic surge in holiday bookings up to next summer. A majority of the bookings seemed to be done on impulse, lured by flash sales,” said a Fort-based travel agent requesting anonymity.