Airfares from various cities in India to the UAE are expected to rise upwards of 45 to 50 per cent this month as expatriates return home after the summer vacations.
Travel agents are reporting a steep rise in demand for air tickets from South Indian sectors such as Kochi, Kozhikode, Chennai and Bengaluru. Travel agents said that the demand for tickets from Mumbai and Delhi to the UAE is also rising
As business travel is also set to resume after the summer holidays, demand and ticket prices will rise dramatically after August 15, they added.
Afi Ahmed, managing director of Smart Travels, also said that prices from India to several GCC destinations during this time of the year have been high for several years. “Many families, especially those with school-going children, have no other choice except to return from vacations as they have to come back in time for school re-opening,” Ahmed said.
Dubai-based travel agency Equator Travel Management LLC organised a one-way charter flight to a popular Kerala destination on Air India Express for prices as low as Dh1,090.
However, these offers are few and far between, as most Indian and regional airlines are restricted by bilateral agreements between both countries, making it challenging to ramp up operations to meet the high demand. Air India is planning to start thrice-weekly flights from Dubai to Kolkata only by winter, said the airline’s regional manager.
