Air India, IndiGo’s expanding wings are making Indians’ finances weak as airfare discounts fly out

As India’s airline market transforms into a duopoly, ticket prices that have long known to be dirt-cheap are climbing.

Airfares on India’s busiest route, Mumbai–New Delhi, were 23% higher during January through August than 2022, according to Thomas Cook India and SOTC Travel. India also saw the highest airfare surge — 41% — in the region in the first three months of this year compared with 2019, a study by Airports Council International Asia Pacific found.