Vistara issues spike airfares by 20-25%

Travellers will have to pay more for domestic flights this summer season, as airfares are expected to surge by 20-25 percent. This surge comes amidst Vistara flight cancellations and strong demand for air travel. The airline industry is facing challenges in increasing capacity to meet demand, even resorting to using larger aircraft on domestic routes as the peak summer travel period approaches. Vistara has been forced to cut 25-30 flights daily, reducing its total capacity by 10 percent due to pilot shortages. This setback occurs at a time when the country's airline industry is already dealing with a reduced number of aircraft following the bankruptcy of Go First and the grounding of over 70 planes by IndiGo due to engine issues. An analysis conducted by travel portal ixigo revealed that spot fares on certain routes surged by up to 39 percent during the period from April 1 to April 7 compared to the period from March 1 to March 7. For instance, one-way spot fares for Delhi-Bengaluru flights increased by 39 percent, while they rose by 30 percent for Delhi-Srinagar flights. According to the analysis, there was a 12 percent increase in fares for Delhi-Mumbai services and an 8 percent increase for Mumbai-Delhi services during the same period. Bharatt Malik, Senior VP - Air and Hotel Business at travel portal Yatra Online, stated that the expected average airfare surge in the current summer schedule, covering both domestic and international routes, is projected to be between 20-25 percent. Malik mentioned, Vistara's decision to reduce flights by 10 percent has impacted ticket prices on major domestic routes. We have observed a significant surge in fares, with prices rising by approximately 20-25 percent across key routes such as Delhi-Goa, Delhi-Kochi, Delhi-Jammu, and Delhi-Srinagar.