The precursor to the holiday season in the UAE starts with Eid Al Adha celebrations, which also marks the summer holiday season for schools. This brings in a windfall profits to the airlines operating from the Middle East to various ports of entry into India, where fares are markedly high, sometimes in the range of 2.5X to 3X the normal fares.
If June to July sees fare hike from the Middle East to India, barring a few days in the middle of the week, the reverse fare hike starts in the middle of the August month when it’s time for expatriates to go back after the summer holiday season ends.
This Eid Al Adha has seen a sharper fare hike from UAE to Mangaluru and all other destinations in India. Even fares booked almost a month earlier also have not given relief and the weekend fares closer to Eid have shot up to Rs 36,000 to Rs 45,000 one way, barring some of the weekdays. The fares are also high in the first fortnight of July, thereafter it goes down to half till month end. The Mangaluru-Dubai fares surge after the second week of August and continue till month end.
Normally, post-pandemic, the return fare was less than Rs 26,000, but now a one-way ticket itself costs 1.5X more than the return fare.
But according to airlines, fares have not been a deterrent to travellers since all flights are going full in the holiday season and occupancy is more than 80 per cent during non-peak times. Airline sources here indicate that all the flights, be it from Dubai, Dammam, Muscat, Doha, Bahrain Kuwait and Jeddah, are showing close to full occupancy.
International flights operating from Mangaluru includes two daily flights to Dubai by Air India Express (AIE) and four weekly flights by IndiGo, four weekly flights to Dammam, three weekly to Muscat, two weekly to Doha and Bahrain and one weekly each to Kuwait and Jeddah – all by AIE.
Liberalisation of bilateral rights is likely to emerge as a flash point in the Indian civil aviation industry as a new government takes charge, say experts. Wilson said Air India is investing in ordering aircraft, and opening up the Indian market to foreign airlines will put its investment at risk.
Though the AED vs Re exchange rate has gone up by 15 per cent from Rs 19.80 to Rs 22.75 in the last three years, the airline fares have seen almost 100 per cent to 200 per cent increase.Airline sources say that it is best to assume that the income levels of expatriates have gone up since “we are seeing families travelling. Earlier, prior to Covid, only individuals used to travel to the Middle East, but it has changed. Surprisingly, we see even blue collar workers also travelling frequently with families.’’
If one thinks of a one-stop flight via Mumbai or Bengaluru for a low fare, it also does not come cheap. Usually the one-stop layover routes used to be 30 per cent to 50 per cent cheaper than direct flights from Mangaluru, but not anymore. They are at least costlier by 10 per cent to 15 per cent , defeating the purpose of a longer journey. An Airport source said many people are taking one-stop flights even though it is slightly costlier since, the flex fares give 35 kg or 40 kg luggage option than the typical 30 kg option, whereas the same flex fare price on another airline gives only 30 kgs.
With AIE is all set to increase the frequency of its flights from Mangaluru to Abu Dhabi to a daily flight from July 22 (at present, four flights), there may be some respite for travellers.
