Domestic, international airfares rise by 9 per cent

New Delhi, Sep 18: Domestic fares in

rose by 29 per cent in the second quarter (Q2) of this financial year compared to that in Q2 last year, as the average overall ticket prices for both domestic and global travel rose by nine per cent, a study has shown. "Airfares in India across domestic and international travel saw an overall price rise of 9 per cent Quarter on Quarter (QoQ), with domestic fares within India witnessing a considerable increase of 29 per cent," the latest American Express Business Travel Monitor quarterly study said.

While the QoQ domestic fares rose by 29 per cent, the year-over-year increase was 11 per cent, it said. The fares from India to Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region as well as Intra-Asia Pacific fares saw a five per cent rise, while those to the Americas overall witnessed a marginal increase of two per cent, it said. In the last quarter, India had observed a strong five per cent rise in airfares for both Intra-Asia Pacific and EMEA destinations, with a significant hike of 13 per cent in business class fares for Intra Asia Pacific travel QoQ.

But fares from India to the Americas saw a marginal increase of two per cent QoQ, while full business airfare to this region remained flat, the study for the quarter said. American Express Business Travel Monitor tracks a set of round trip airfares originating in the Asia Pacific region to 370 city pairs across the world. Ten countries -- Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan, are covered.

Dr Carl Jones, Head of American Express Advisory Services for Asia-Pacific, said India and Australia in particular have seen significant increases in domestic fares which have had an impact on overall fare performance for the region. Its Vice President Sandeep Shastri said, "We believe the environment will continue to remain dynamic, and to stabilize expenses on business travel, companies should look at cost- effective travel programmes and execute multi-year contracts with key domestic and international carriers."

He said the contributing factors to a spike in fares included increase in travel demands, steady rise in inflation, reduction in capacity and flight network disruptions leading to reduced supply in the market.

PTI