Airfares take off: This Diwali, flying home from Hyderabad costs more than abroad | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: Flying home this Diwali could cost Hyderabad passengers more than flying abroad. With domestic airfares surging nearly a month ahead of the festival, tickets to Singapore, Malaysia and Bangkok are now cheaper than fares to several Indian cities.A one-way ticket from Hyderabad to Chandigarh or Patna is touching Rs 22,000 for the Diwali period, against the regular fare of around Rs 9,000. Fares to Jaipur have climbed to nearly Rs 21,000 from about Rs 8,000.

In comparison, international flights to Singapore, Malaysia and Bangkok are available for around Rs 15,000-18,000, making them up to Rs 7,000 cheaper than several domestic destinations.The spike has been reported on several other domestic routes, including Kolkata, Guwahati, Lucknow, Bhopal and Indore, with fares on some sectors nearly doubling from normal levels.With Diwali still weeks away, travel agents expect fares to rise further as demand picks up. A similar trend was witnessed during Dasara, when domestic airfares from Hyderabad remained unusually high.Travel agents attributed the surge to limited flight availability amid uncertainty in the Middle East.“With airlines operating fewer flights on several sectors, available seats are unable to keep pace with the surge in demand. There is a clear mismatch between supply and demand. Most people travel to their hometowns during the festival, and flights are filling up rapidly. With limited seats, fares are naturally shooting up,” said Abdul Majeed Faheem of the Travel Agents Federation of India (Telangana and AP Chapter).Passengers said the fares had become unaffordable. “It is shocking to see domestic tickets costing over Rs 15,000-17,000 for a one-way journey to Lucknow. At these prices, travelling abroad is actually cheaper. Families who have to travel during Diwali have little choice but to pay the inflated fares,” said Saurav Sinha, an IT professional from Madhapur.600 special trains on track this feteWith the festive travel season approaching, South Central Railway (SCR) has deployed several special trains connecting Telangana with destinations across north, south, east and west India. Around 600 special trains are being operated for the festive season, SCR said. The Charlapalli-Hazrat Nizamuddin special (07021) had 608 vacant berths on Oct 19 and 632 on Oct 26. The Charlapalli-Tiruvannamalai special had 257 vacant berths on Oct 13, with availability rising to 656 on Oct 20 and 701 on Oct 27.