Spot Airfares Soar With Go First Gone

Go First, an airline backed by Wadia Group, suspended flight operations on 2 May after filing for insolvency protection. The airline cancelled flights through 12 May and stopped bookings until 15 May.

With a 6.9% share in India’s domestic aviation market as of March, Go First carried almost 900,000 passengers during the month, or about 30,000 daily passengers who are now stranded due to the suspension of operations and may have to search for alternative flights to complete their travel.

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Data from the travel website Ixigo showed last-minute fares on the Delhi-Leh route now cost around ₹29,000, nearly five times the cost of spot bookings a week back at nearly ₹6,000. Similarly, Delhi-Srinagar flights are now nearly three times more expensive, costing nearly ₹27,000 compared to ₹9,000 a week earlier.

Spot airfares for flights on routes with a strong presence of Go First, such as Mumbai-Goa, have more than doubled to around ₹10,000 from nearly ₹4,000 a week ago, and those for Delhi-Pune have risen to approximately ₹15,000 from a little over ₹6,000 a week earlier. Spot airfares for flights to Ahmedabad from Delhi have also become dearer by 55% to around ₹5,000 from over ₹3,000 a week earlier.

“There is an increase in segment size by 15% on an average industry-wide. So the spike in airfares is visible for at least until the next 28 days," said Gaurav Patwari, vice president of air category at Cleartrip.

Travel analysts also attribute the rise in fares to the peak travel season that starts from mid to end of May.

“With the mercury rising and school holidays on the horizon, more and more people are planning their summer break. During the peak summer travel season, destinations such as Srinagar, Leh, Bagdogra, Port Blair, and Goa are in high demand, leading to airfares that are typically 30-40% higher," said Sabina Chopra, chief operating officer-corporate travel and head of industry relations at Yatra Online.

Notably, demand for domestic travel has remained strong during the non-peak months of January to March, and passenger numbers have broken travel records achieved during the December quarter, a busy period for the travel industry.

Aviation industry experts predict fares to stay firm during the summer months due to Go First’s suspension of flights and high travel demand.

“The current developments will certainly make many of the passengers relook at choices leading to other airlines for fresh bookings. This will result in an upward revision of fares. Passengers might have to pay a premium for predictability, and other lines will hold on to fares for the next month or so before fresh capacity is added by competition," said Jagannarayan Padmanabhan, senior director—of consulting at Crisil Market Intelligence and Analytics.