As a result of the second COVID-19 wave, the demand for air travel dropped dramatically from March onward. Passengers are slightly increasing now. Online journey agents indicate that bookings are once more being made well in advance of travel dates, as well as people returning from smaller towns to big cities.
According to Ameya Joshi, founder of aviation evaluation website Community Ideas, domestic air traffic is picking up with a 45% increase in June compared to May. This can be attributed to cities opening up as the second wave of COVID-19 subsided. He says the average daily count was about 1 lakh passengers per day in June, which is one-fourth of the numbers pre-COVID.
Before the second wave of COVID-19 hit in February 2021, passenger numbers hovered between 2.5 lakhs and three lakhs per day, close to pre-COVID levels. From March onwards, the number of passengers began to decline and reached a low of 39,370 on March 18. Making use of travel portals like MakeMyTrip, Cleartrip and ixigo more individuals are reserving tickets in advance, rather than waiting until the last minute.
The share of roundtrips is about 25%, while the share of travel over four weeks from the date of booking has exceeded 10%. Cleartrip officials expect this trend to continue as vaccinations and caseloads decrease. As ixigo’s CEO & Director Aloke Bajpai explained, ‘the share of bookings for travel beyond 30 days has doubled in the last one week – a sign of growing confidence in July travel’.
The period from July to September is traditionally considered a low season for travel, since schools reopen after summer break. According to Mr. Bajpai, the seasonality of travel demand doesn’t hold right now since there is a lot of pent-up demand. People from tier-2 and tier-3 cities are also returning to metros like Delhi, Mumbai & Bengaluru because of the relaxation of some restrictions and the normalization of actions. According to ixigo’s information, bookings from cities like Varanasi, Darbhanga, Patna and Gorakhpur to metros have increased 45-50% in the last two weeks.
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In addition, airlines offer discounted fares for tickets booked 30 days or more in advance of the travel date. There is a 50-70% difference in fares. In other words, demand is being stimulated. An airline government stated that once demand rises, fares will increase. For example, a Delhi – Mumbai flight booked for July 10 costs $6,795 and for August 1 costs $2,722 — a 60% difference in airfare. For the same dates, a Delhi-Patna flight costs Rs 4,689 and Rs 1,999, which is 56% more expensive respectively.
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