There’s good news for anyone looking to travel abroad. International flight ticket prices are expected to get cheaper by as much as 40 percent in the near future. This is bound to happen since the government had recently announced the lifting of the ban on international commercial flights after almost two years.
Lufthansa and group carrier Swiss plan to almost double flights in the next few months, while Singapore Airlines may increase flights by 17%, said executives at these airlines. Domestic carrier IndiGo hopes to resume nearly 100 global flights in the coming months.
Currently, airlines can operate a limited number of overseas flights under bubble arrangements with certain countries, as India has clamped a ban on regular international flights. Limited capacity has pushed airfares up to 100% higher, compared to before the pandemic, on some routes such as India-US.
“Suspension of regular international flights had created a demand-supply imbalance, making international travel expensive for certain routes under the bubble agreements,” said Aloke Bajpai, group chief executive of travel portal Ixigo. “With capacity coming back and with an increase in connectivity and more routes, we can expect international fares returning to pre-Covid levels.”
Not too long ago, India said it will resume scheduled commercial flight operations to international destinations from March 27, restarting unrestricted travel after two years and for the first time since the pandemic began.
“After having recognised the increased vaccination coverage across the globe and in consultation with the stakeholders, the government of India has decided to resume scheduled commercial international passenger services,” the ministry of civil aviation said in a statement.
India currently allows airlines to operate a limited number of flights to countries with which it has a bilateral arrangement under an ‘air bubble’ agreement. This has limited airlines’ operations and hurt their profitability.
