Flights from metros to Kochi too are heavily packed ahead of Onam
Picture for representational purpose
KOCHI: Close on the heels of the Gulf sector witnessing a heavy rush and hike in fares, flights from metros like Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai to Kochi too are heavily packed ahead of Onam. Consequently the flight fares too are hitting new highs. Interestingly, travel agents say that there is heavy fluctuation in the fares within hours making it impossible for them to predict the fares.
“This is unprecedented. On Thursday morning I quoted a fare of Rs 11,000 to Bangalore for a customer in an airline and after a few hours when I checked the website the fare had come down to Rs 6,000. This is landing us in real trouble,” said a travel agent in Kochi. “Sometimes group bookings affect the pricing. But the airlines never reveal their pricing system though broadly they say it’s dynamic,” said the travel agent.
According to the travel agents, reservation against cancellation is mainly taking place up to Onam since all flights are packed. The Bangalore-Kochi sector (one direction) has a price tag of Rs11,000 to Rs 12,000 as demand peaks but it drops to Rs1,500- Rs3000 when demand drops. There are a total of 13 daily flights in the sector while Hyderabad has only three flights. The fare in the Hyderabad sector has gone up as
high as Rs11,000-Rs14,000 while in the lean time it drops to Rs 6000-Rs 8000. Mumbai has nine daily flights and one weekly flight and the higher rates are at Rs14,000-Rs18,000 in one direction and it can drop to Rs5000-6000. In Delhi-Kochi, the fare is now on Rs11,000-Rs18,000 while it can go down to Rs 6000- Rs 8000 if demand drops.
The travel agents also say that heavy bookings take place as employees of certain firms have to exhaust their LTA by September. Some of the Gulf airlines have special fares for the metro cities and there are many Malayalees who avail these and then book a connecting flight to Kochi.
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