Maha Kumbh 2025: Demand for flight tickets spikes ahead of Second Shahi Snan; DGCA takes note

Maha Kumbh 2025: Ahead of the Second Shahi Snan on January 29 (Mauni Amavasya), demand for flight tickets have spiked up. The Second Shahi Snan commemorating the event when one of the first sages, Rishabh Dev, broke his protracted vow of silence and immersed himself in the waters of the Sangam, draws the largest congregation of pilgrims to the Kumbh Mela. 

According to global travel app, Skyscanner, January 28 stands out as the peak travel date, ahead of the Second Shahi Snan, indicating higher travel interest. January 14, 15, and 25 had also seen high booking volumes, and January 29 is another day with a marked increase in booking volume. 

Skyscanner stated that January 28 recorded a 675 per cent increase in booking volume compared to a typical day. Compared to the same time last year when no event was held in Prayagraj, the volume of bookings has surged by 1,776 per cent, it said. 

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stated that it has approved 81 additional flights in January, which has increased connectivity to Prayagraj to 132 flights from across the country. 

The DGCA also met airlines on January 23, and urged them to increase their capacity further by adding flights and rationalising fares.

A round-trip from Delhi to Prayagraj (January 28-30) is now coming up to over Rs 60,000. The same round-trip from Mumbai to Prayagraj is now coming up to over Rs 50,000, as per booking website MakeMyTrip. 

MAHA KUMBH 2025 TRAVEL DEMANDS

As per Skyscanner, there has been a significant increase in travel interest to the auspicious event with elevated booking volumes starting from January 12 till February 26, Maha Shivratri, on which the event will conclude. 

In the week of January 20, searches for travel in February spiked through domestic routes. Searches for nearby airports such as Varanasi have also spiked, indicating a growing interest in indirect travel routes.

Searches for Hyderabad – Prayagraj, Pune – Prayagraj, and Prayagraj – Mumbai routes witnessed an increase of 2,815 per cent, 1,345 per cent, and 870 per cent week-on-week. 

When it comes to international routes, there have been interest around key holy dip dates (January 13, January 14, January 29, February 3, February 12, February 26). Dubai, London, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, and Doha are the top five international cities that showed high search interest in travel to Maha Kumbh 2025 in Prayagraj.