The airfare between Ahmedabad to Goa is soaring extremely just before the Christmas season, and this is putting a lot of pressure on travellers who are planning to make a holiday visit to Goa. One-way economy tickets on this domestic route have reportedly shot up to 18,000, and this is four to five times higher than the normal fares during the low season.
When a reservation is made in advance, the price of Ahmedabad to Goa tickets is 2,800 to 3,500 in a normal situation. But as the season of Christmas and the winter vacation season grows near, the demand for flights to Goa, which is a popular beach and tourist resort, has soared. The airlines have retaliated by engaging in dynamic pricing, which has seen fares go up to unprecedented levels.
According to experts, this rush is mostly attributed to the fact that high seasonal demand and last-minute bookings apply. The majority of low-cost fares are sold several months before the peak travel season; as a result, customers are left with the option of more premium-priced seats. It is especially in the Ahmedabad-Goa route, where people are more inclined to use air travel instead of spending a lot of time in train or road transportation.
Besides, the airlines will charge higher fares during festive seasons with the aim of maximizing revenue. Goa, being one of the best places to spend Christmas and New Year, has most flights almost at capacity, hence increasing the cost of the ticket even more. This is not limited to Ahmedabad-Goa, but it has been witnessed on other routing flights like Ahmedabad-Delhi, Mumbai-Goa, though the spike in Ahmedabad-Goa is particularly sharp owing to the number of flights that have been limited and the number of tourists that have flown in.
The steep increase has created pressure on low-budget travellers and families with last-minute holidays. Experts in the travel industry recommend that people book their tickets early when they are on holiday to avoid paying high prices. To those that cannot afford to fly, trains, buses and car rentals are being considered, though they would add time to their travels and decrease convenience.
Although the airlines justify the surge as part of the functioning of dynamic pricing and supply-demand economics, consumer activists fear that such high increases will render holiday travel unaffordable to many middle-income families. They propose regulatory control in order to create transparency and avoid exploitation in high seasons.
Travel agencies also record a high level of enquiries on the Ahmedabad-Goa route, and this indicates that Goa as a winter holiday destination is gaining popularity. Christmas is right at hand, and the prices of the tickets are likely to keep their mark-up high, which makes the travellers think in advance or re-plan their travelling regime.
The skyrocketing of airfares is a sharp wake-up call on the need to book early and to book in a flexible manner during the high seasons of holidays, particularly in busy routes like Ahmedabad to Goa.
