Int’l airfares up as Ukraine crisis sees oil prices spike

MUMBAI: Airfares to international destinations have soared along with the rise in oil prices following the Russia-Ukraine crisis, but on the domestic routes, the recent hike in airfares can be attributed to an increase in bookings, said travel industry officials on Friday. In January, during the third Covid wave, domestic airfares crashed with a drop in demand.
Currently, airfares are capped up to 15 days, so airlines offered dirt cheap tickets for travel two weeks out. That is, if you look up domestic fares today, you will find comparatively cheaper fares on dates 15 days out, from March 20 onwards.
Till recently a Mumbai-Delhi return ticket booked 15 days or more in advance cost Rs 5,500, but now it costs Rs 10,500. Similarly, the cheapest 15-day advance purchase return fare on the Mumbai-Kochi flights was priced around Rs 4,300; it costs over Rs 15,000 now. Fares on travel within 15 days are much higher.