Domestic Air Travel Picks Up Amid Festivities; Delhi-Mumbai Spot Fare Rs. 18,000

As people amid festivities are travelling back to their natives to be with their near and dear ones, bookings for domestic air travel despite the coronavirus scare has inched higher to touch almost 40% of 2019 levels. The demand uptick is primarily seen from metros to towns and cities in Eastern India including Kolkata, Patna and Ranchi. This uptick in travel is seen even as 5-days long Durga Puja festival is to kick start on October 22, while Diwali is on November 14 this year.

Corporate travel too seems to be picking up, with the most busiest route in India i.e. Delhi-Mumbai commanding a spot fare of Rs. 18000, which is way higher than the maximum price of Rs. 10000 that was fixed by the civil aviation ministry while resuming air travel in May after a halt due to lockdown.

A spokesman from an online travel agency Yatra.com told a leading business portal that now people are also looking out for leisure besides essential travel and there has been an increase in booking enquiries. Further people want to know of destinations that can ensure that all essential measures are taken care of.

Typically, bookings to places including Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Lucknow, Kolkata and Varanasi have witnessed a sudden surge as travelers visit their natives or nearby getaways for a holiday.

Domestic air traffic ever since the services resumed in May (halted in the aftermath of the nationwide lockdown imposed from March 25) has been inching higher at a steady pace. And for the September month witnessed the sharpest jump of 39% month on month, the highest since the lockdown.

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