Despite high fares, holiday season sold out

Mumbai: The aviation industry is singing carols all the way the bank this Christmas season. Despite high fares, business is booming and bookings this holiday season have gone up by 20% compared to the same period last year.
Carriers flying to both domestic and international destinations are fully booked, say tour operators. They say bookings for Christmas and New Year as 2010 draws to a close surpass those of 2009 and 2008. According to the civil aviation ministry, there was a 10% growth in passenger traffic this year. Currently , most flights are either completely booked or have very few seats left. `` In fact, we are still getting calls for last-minute bookings,'' said Rajesh Rateria, managing director of Cirrus Travels.
It was a very different story in 2009, as the aviation sector was just recovering from a lean year. `` After the slowdown began in 2008, we were wondering if the industry would show signs of recovery in the coming years. But things started looking up in 2009 and tourist traffic is even better in 2010,'' said a Mumbai travel agent. `` I am hoping that bookings will be almost 30% higher by the end of this season,'' he added.
Even the big freeze in the UK does not seem to be deterring travellers who want to bring in the New Year in style. Travel agencies said they are still receiving requests for the Bombay-London sector despite the fact that flight schedules are chaotic because of snowstorms in Britain.
21/12/10 Chinmayi Shalya/Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Dec 2010