Air tickets may cost more on reduction in capacity

With IATA suspending Kingfisher Airlines, air tickets are expected to soar with sudden reduction in capacity.

Travel agents told Business Line that they will now have less number of seats to sell and hence suspension is not a good move for anybody concerned — the airline, travel agents or passengers.

“It's the customers who end up paying more, when there is a sudden shortage of seats,” said Mr Mahendra Vakharia, an Ahmedabad-based travel agent.

He pointed out that the capacity reduction is felt acutely in tier-II cities where the frequencies are less.

Even if one airline pulls out of one such sector, it could result in a one-third reduction or more in seat capacity.

“In most cases, other airlines hike prices even if demand is not high,” he added.

According to Mr Sanjay Kumar Gupta, Secretary, TAFI – Karnataka chapter, prices are already going up on some sectors. For instance, an economy-class ticket on the Bangalore-Goa sector, which was available for about Rs 3,500 earlier, is now priced at about Rs 6,500, “or sometimes it is not available at all”, he added.

Similarly, bookings are also unavailable on routes like Delhi-Bangalore, because of sudden reduction in capacity.

Kingfisher Airlines currently has four daily flights on this sector, “which means 720 seats are not available to us for booking”, he said.

Travel agents say things could change for the worse when the summer vacation season starts in April.

“There is only a slight increase in prices now. The load factor, too, is less now as exams are on for children. But prices will soar from April onwards,” explained Mr Amarnath, a Bangalore-based agent.

Besides, consequent to IATA's move, passengers who are already booked on Kingfisher flights cannot cancel or reschedule their bookings. “We are not able to process refunds also,” said Mr Gupta.

> anju@thehindu.co.in

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