Airfares may dip 15-20% from April as domestic airlines rectify supply constraints

The top private airlines in the country have taken a big beating in the past two months, with over 80 flights grounded due to factors ranging from pilot shortage to safety concerns and non-payment of dues. In the bargain, flights had suddenly become a lot more expensive.

Last-minute airfares had spiked by up to 200% on some key routes while same day fares jumped by up to 50%.

"February and March have seen high airfares, with an average increase of 35-40% on airfares across key sectors. The partial closure of Mumbai and Bengaluru airports and daily cancellations and grounding of planes by airlines led to a 5% decrease in seat capacity," Aloke Bajpai, CEO and co-founder of ixigo, a travel website, told The Hindustan Times.

But things reportedly are poised for a turnaround, just in time for the upcoming summer holidays, a peak travel season in the country. To begin with, Jet Airways' management on Tuesday informed the Civil Aviation Ministry that it would not ground any more aircraft and would fly 40 more aircraft by end-April. Currently, the ailing airline is flying only 35 aircraft, so by May around 80% of Jet's fleet will be operational again.

According to Jet Airways executives, operations to Bhuj, Mangalore, Bhopal and Aurangabad, which were completely shut following the grounding of aircraft, will resume from March 31, and the currently curtailed frequency of flights to metro cities will also see an increase.

In the meantime, SpiceJet, which has all its 12 Boeing Max planes grounded by the DGCA following the crash of an Ethiopian Airline plane early this month, is reportedly looking to lease as many as 50 of Jet Airways' currently grounded planes to replenish capacity, which should also bring down airfares if the deal goes through.

Furthermore, the country largest airline, IndiGo, which was forced to cancel about 30 flights daily due to pilot shortage, has been on a hiring spree in recent times, recruiting Jet Airways' pilots along with scouting for expat pilots. Executives at IndiGo and SpiceJet told the daily that the number of flight cancellations will go down from April 1.

With the supply-side constraints finally likely to ease out courtesy the above factors, experts predict that airfares will start returning to normalcy. The reopening of the Mumbai airport runway - closed down last month for recarpeting - scheduled for March 30 will help stabilise flight schedules, too. "Our data shows that if grounded planes resume operations, airfares can dip by 15-20% April onwards," said Bajpai.

 With PTI inputs