The Hindu Business Line : Fall in air ticket sales to short-haul destinations

Fears of low-cost airlines seem to be turning true. A good number of people travelling to short-haul destinations prefer to take buses or trains, instead of going by air.

If initial trends in sales are any indication, there is a sharp decrease in sales of tickets to short-haul destinations such as Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry and Vijayawada. One travel agent put the figure as high as 50 per cent.

Though the airlines have not come out with any figures, two major reasons the travel agents attribute for this decrease are huge transportation costs to the new airport and the time taken to reach the place.

On an average, “The decrease is significant. People going to shorter distances choose to go by buses or trains as it takes 5-6 hours to reach the destinations in the State. Buses and trains could take them to those destinations in eight hours,” Capt. Chandramohan Arcot, Chief Executive Officer, Captain Air Travels and Tours, told Business Line.

Mr Atluri Subba Rao, Chairman, Atluri Travels, too, admitted that there is a ‘small’ decrease in volume of sales to smaller distances in the last one week.

Mr Subba Rao, who is also the President of Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, felt that this was only a temporary phase. Citing the examples in places like Kuala Lumpur, he said it was initially felt that the airports were built quite far off, but ultimately they emerged as world-class airports, with increased connectivity.

“Road travel has become quite cumbersome and it is tedious to drive down to places like Vijayawada,” he added.

Capt. Chandramohan, too, supported this argument. “The situation will be normal once they ensured good transport facilities to the new airport,” he pointed out.

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