Last-minute air fares for long weekends 47% cheaper this year

NEW DELHI: Booking last-minute tickets for flights for two consecutive long weekends won’t burn a hole in your pocket. Flight tickets booked a week in advance of the first long weekend are as much as 47% cheaper than last year due to lower fuel prices and higher domestic capacity on airlines.

“If booked at least one week prior to day of travel, the fares on segments like Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Hyderabad or Bengaluru-Cochin were lower by 27%, 47% and 15%, respectively, for the Bakri-Id weekend this Friday,” said Samyukth Sridharan, president and chief operating officer at Cleartrip.com, an online travel portal. “They are further lower for the Gandhi Jayanti weekend on October 2.”




While jet fuel is about 41% cheaper than a year earlier, domestic carriers have added more seats. “It is not just low fuel prices but also increase in capacity being offered by domestic carriers that has added to decline in fares. The airlines today are offering about 18% more seats in the domestic sector compared to the same period last year,” said Sharat Dhall, president of Yatra.com.