CHENNAI: Thousands of people have started travelling to their hometowns from the Chennai airport to celebrate Deepavali with their friends and families.
As the people turn out at the last minute, ticket prices for domestic flights have skyrocketed, in some cases up to five to six times higher than usual fares.
Flights to Madurai, Tiruchy, Coimbatore, Thoothukudi, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Guwahati have seen sharp hikes. Passengers have raised complaints that airlines were violating the DGCA order, which strictly prohibited fare hikes during festival periods.
However, airline representatives claim that the fares have not been increased. They explained that all low-fare tickets have been sold out, and only higher-fare tickets remain available.
As the extended Deepavali holidays begin this weekend, passenger traffic at the airport has reached peak levels. Crowds are flooding the domestic terminal as people prefer air travel to avoid long travel hours and traffic congestion by train or bus.
Destination Usual Fare Festival fare
Madurai Rs 3,129 Rs 17,683
Tiruchy Rs 3,608 Rs 15,233
Coimbatore Rs 4,351 Rs 17,158
Thoothukui Rs 3,608 Rs 17,053
New Delhi Rs 5,933 Rs 30,414
Mumbai Rs 3,356 Rs 21,960
Kolkata Rs 5,293 Rs 22,169
Hyderabad Rs 2,926 Rs 15,309
Guwahati Rs 6,499 Rs 21,639
Bhubaneswar Rs 4,522 Rs 14,428
Jaipur Rs 6,151 Rs 21,591
Patna Rs 4,972 Rs 15,584
All tickets to Salem sold out for the next two days.