Airfares may rise as airlines cut flights from Mumbai, rejig network

Mumbai airport is losing direct air connectivity with Hubballi (Karnataka) and is seeing reduction in flights to Durgapur, Jabalpur, Thiruvananthapuram , among other cities, as airlines rejig their networks.

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This comes in the wake of Civil Aviation Ministry’s directive to cut around 40 flights at Mumbai in view of congestion and delays. Spot fares on a few routes are already higher compared with last month and capacity reduction from Mumbai may push up fares further, industry sources said.

IndiGo has cancelled sixteen daily services to/from Mumbai. These include flights to Hubballi and Jabalpur - routes flown only by IndiGo. SpiceJet has announced one weekly service between Mumbai and Jabalpur from March 2 but IndiGo’s withdrawal will result in capacity reduction on the route.

Vistara has cancelled flights from Mumbai to Goa and Thiruvananthapuram. Instead, now, it has launched a new morning flight between Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. Akasa Air has cancelled a flight between Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Minimising inconvenience

Airline executives said they are trying to minimise inconvenience to passengers by offering them seats on alternate flights or routing them via other cities. For instance, passengers from Jabalpur are being offered connections via Delhi, Hyderabad or Indore. “ There are passengers connecting on international flights and we have to ensure they are taken care of,” an airline executive said.

Another executive pointed out that already airlines are operating at load factors of 85-87 per cent. “If capacity goes out, market fares from Mumbai will go up,” he added. 

According to ixigo.com, spot fares on routes such as Hyderabad-Mumbai and Bengaluru-Mumbai have increased by 38 per cent and 77 per cent on a month-on-month basis. For instance, a one way ticket between Hyderabad and Mumbai on February 17 was available for ₹5,523, a day before travel. Last month, a similar one way ticket was being sold for ₹4,002.

Mumbai airport handles over 950 flight movements daily. But a single operating runway system at Mumbai has led to constraints — slot availability is limited. 

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In view of congestion at Mumbai, restrictions on private jet movements have been increased from four to eight hours daily. Flight movements in peak hours have been cut from 46 to 44 and 44 to 42. Civil Aviation Ministry said the decision to reduce flight movements has been taken in larger public interest from perspective of airspace safety, efficiency of operations and passenger satisfaction.

Mumbai International Airport Ltd did not respond to an email query on the topic.

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