With airfares defying gravity, the holiday season has failed to arrest the free fall in domestic air travel this year. October 2012 saw the highest ever year-on-year fall in domestic air travel with a 15.7% drop over the same period last year. The slide is accelerating as it is higher than the 12.4% recorded in the lean travel month of September 2012, over the same month last year.
However, October (which marks opening of peak travel season) saw 45.4 lakh people flying within the country, which is higher than in September and August.
Apart from the economic slowdown, October saw less traffic over the same month last year for one more reason. Diwali this time was in mid-November and so the festive season travel shifted to this month, say travel agents.
But the biggest reason for constant fall in year-on-year domestic flyers in 2012 is that private airlines have decided to hike fares by 30-50% to recover costs to stay alive even if it means sending price-sensitive passengers back to trains. The decision comes after they saw the fate of near-bankrupt Kingfisher, which has been grounded since October 1.
21/11/12 Times of India
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However, October (which marks opening of peak travel season) saw 45.4 lakh people flying within the country, which is higher than in September and August.
Apart from the economic slowdown, October saw less traffic over the same month last year for one more reason. Diwali this time was in mid-November and so the festive season travel shifted to this month, say travel agents.
But the biggest reason for constant fall in year-on-year domestic flyers in 2012 is that private airlines have decided to hike fares by 30-50% to recover costs to stay alive even if it means sending price-sensitive passengers back to trains. The decision comes after they saw the fate of near-bankrupt Kingfisher, which has been grounded since October 1.
21/11/12 Times of India
