Air fares rise on routes connecting small cities

New Delhi: Even as the average domestic fares saw a fall during the second quarter of the current financial year, fares between routes connecting smaller cities saw a double-digit increase compared to the same period last year. Fares of routes connecting metros, however, declined during the same period.
Analysts say the demand-supply mismatch between small city pairs and routes that connect smaller cities, and bad economic situation has led to rise in fairs in these routes.
According to American Express data, which is a comparison of the base fares during July-September 2010 with the same period in 2011, shows that smaller cities are seeing an increase in fares. It also shows the large city pairs have seen a decline in fares leading to around 14 per cent fall in the domestic fares. The average domestic fare during the period was Rs 3,500, that is around 14 per cent less than the same period last year.
Analysts say bad capacity management by airlines is the reason behind the rising fares in the non-trunk routes.
“India is growing in smaller cities and unfortunately infrastructure is not keeping pace. This combined with the unavailability of smaller aircrafts with Indian carriers, is causing the price rise. Availability of few seats on the route also cause the price to rise,” said Keyur Joshi, Co Founder & Chief Operating Officer of MakeMyTrip.Com, an online travel portal.
16/10/11 Mihir Mishra/Business Standard

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Oct 2011