By Sabina Chopra, Co-Founder & COO, Corporate Travel & Head Industry Relations, Yatra.com.
“With the ease in restrictions and opening up of international borders, travel is slowly on the pathway to meet the pre-COVID levels in terms of demand. The rise in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) brings in one of the biggest challenge for the aviation sector, as it is one of the major factors impacting the operational costs for airlines. There is a pent-up demand for summer vacations domestically and to international locations and with ATF prices going up, this has a direct impact on the airfares across markets. We at Yatra.com have witnessed a 30-40% rise in airfares in the last two months with demand subdued for the month of June. On the International travel front, since airlines are not operating at full capacity on all routes, the fares have continued to rise. It is also important to understand that apart from ATF prices, airfares are being impacted by the depreciation of the rupee, moderate market recovery, and airlines not operating to the fullest of their capacity. Being a dynamic sector, we are working in alignment with our various stakeholders to alter strategizes catering to the ever-changing environment.”
