Airfares Go Through Roof Due to Flight Shortage During Festive Rush
With schools and colleges closed for the festive season, passenger movement from Chennai and its suburbs has increased sharply in recent days.
Chennai:Passengers travelling from Chennai to their hometowns in southern Tamil Nadu for Christmas and New Year are facing severe hardship due to an acute shortage of direct flights, leading to soaring airfares and prolonged travel times.
With schools and colleges closed for the festive season, passenger movement from Chennai and its suburbs has increased sharply in recent days.
The rush has been particularly heavy on routes to southern districts such as Thoothukudi, Madurai, Tiruchy, Salem and Coimbatore. Airline sources said all direct flight tickets to Thoothukudi for today and tomorrow have been sold out.
Unable to secure direct flights, passengers bound for Thoothukudi are forced to book tickets to Thiruvananthapuram, which has also resulted in those flights selling out. With no seats available on either route, travellers are now taking longer and costlier detours via Bengaluru - flying from Chennai to Bengaluru and then onwards to Thiruvananthapuram or Thoothukudi.
A similar situation prevails on routes to Madurai, Tiruchy and Salem, where passengers are compelled to travel via Bengaluru due to the unavailability of direct flights.
This has led to steep fare hikes. A Chennai–Thoothukudi ticket that normally costs around Rs. 4,100, but now costs up to Rs. 13,400 via Bengaluru. Chennai–Madurai fares have risen from Rs. 4,248 to Rs. 13,160, while Chennai–Tiruchy fares have surged from Rs. 4,121 to Rs. 13,842. Chennai–Salem tickets now cost close to Rs. 8,688, compared to the usual Rs. 3,093.
Even Chennai–Coimbatore fares have nearly doubled due to surge pricing. Passengers have urged airlines to operate additional flights within Tamil Nadu during peak travel seasons to ease congestion, reduce fares and prevent unnecessary detours through neighbouring states.