Mahakumbh: Amid surge in airfares to Prayagraj, airlines to mount more flights after govt nudge | Business News
Budget airlines SpiceJet and Akasa Air will be adding more flights to the Prayagraj airport after heavy passenger flows to the city for the Mahakumbh resulted in a surge in airfares to and from the holy city.
According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), SpiceJet is set to launch flights between Prayagraj and Delhi, Chennai, Guwahati, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Jaipur, and Hyderabad, adding around 43,000 seats in February. Over the next few days, Akasa Air will also start operating flights connecting Prayagraj with Ahmedabad and Bengaluru. The airline plans to operate nine flights from Ahmedabad and 12 flights from Bengaluru, adding around 4,000 seats.
“These new flights are part of the ongoing efforts to ensure regional connectivity and accommodate the influx of travelers to Prayagraj during the Mahakumbh period. The addition of these flights is expected to ease the pressure on airfares and improve overall accessibility for devotees and tourists,” MoCA said in a release.
Otherwise a rather small and sleepy airport, Prayagraj has been buzzing with air traffic due to the Mahakumbh, the world’s largest religious congregation. In January, as many as 81 flights were introduced into the schedule by various airlines. Currently, there are 132 flights with around 80,000 monthly seats to Prayagraj from across the country.
Prayagraj is currently connected directly with 17 cities across India, up from eight cities in December 2024.
“During Mahakumbh, the airport witnessed 30,172 passengers and operated 226 flights in just one week, surpassing 5,000 passengers in a single day for the first time. Night flights were also introduced, enabling 24/7 connectivity for the first time in 106 years,” MoCA said.
Such has been the demand for travel to the Mahakumbh that airfares to and from Prayagraj have shot up. According to a survey by LocalCircles, airfares to Prayagraj and Varanasi are reported to have risen 300 to 600 per cent.
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“Consumers are reporting airfares for Delhi to Prayagraj between Rs 20,000-30,000 and for Delhi to Varanasi between Rs 20,000–40,000. Many fliers have been trying alternate airports as flights to Prayagraj sell out. This is against the around Rs 5,000 for a one-way trip to these cities under normal circumstances,” LocalCircles said Sunday.
The surge in demand has forced MoCA and aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to speak with airlines to further increase flights to Prayagraj in a bid to keep airfares in check. The regulator met airlines last week, urging them “to increase further capacity by adding flights and rationalise fares”. Airfares in India are deregulated and market-determined, essentially depending on demand-supply dynamics.
“As per directions of Union Minister of Civil Aviation Minister Shri Ram Mohan Naidu to ensure that airfares remain in check as the festival’s peak days approach, especially during the forthcoming Shahi Sanan on January 29th, February 3rd, and other important Sanan on February 4th, February 12th, and February 26th, 2025; DGCA has advised airlines to ensure sufficient capacity to accommodate passengers,” MoCA said.
