Flights in India Become Expensive During Diwali (Credits: iStock)
\n\nFlying home for Diwali has become significantly more expensive for many Indians this year, with rising airfares and fewer flight options adding to the festive travel rush. In a worrying development for the aviation industry, Indian airlines have scheduled fewer flights during the October-November period compared with last year, marking the first such decline since the COVID-19 pandemic.
\n\nAccording to aviation analytics firm Cirium, airlines scheduled approximately 6% fewer flights across October and November 2026 than during the corresponding period last year. The development signals a reversal of the capacity expansion that India's aviation sector had witnessed in the years following the pandemic. During the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, airlines had slashed their service capacity by nearly 45% as travel demand collapsed. The trend is visible across several domestic routes. An analysis shared by travel platform Cleartrip found that peak Diwali airfares on select routes had climbed substantially compared with average fares during Diwali 2025. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad route saw peak fares touch ₹23,000, while Delhi-Mumbai tickets reached as much as ₹26,500.
\n\nThe latest reduction comes amid growing pressure on both airlines and passengers. Domestic passenger traffic had already fallen 6.5% year-on-year…
Original source: https://www.timesnownews.com/lifestyle
