Air travel between the UAE and India is seeing a massive surge in demand, with the industry data indicating a whopping 136 percent jump in air traffic in the first half of this year over the same year ago period.
The spike in air travel demand is despite a significant rise – about 17 percent in June alone – in airfares in the UAE-India sector.
“The growth [in air traffic] this year has been very strong starting March. Compared to last year, every month of 2022 has been significantly better over the corresponding months of last year, which was marred by restrictions,” Atish Thapa, business head – Middle East at Cleartrip, told Arabian Business.
“Our data shows a 136 percent growth in UAE-India flying segments between January and June of this year over the same period in 2021,” said the senior executive of Cleartrip, the leading online travel agency (OTA) in the UAE.
Thapa, however, said the start of the year was slower than expected owing to the spread of the Omicron variant.
“But for the muted travel at the start of 2022, the growth numbers would have been much higher,” he said.
Senior executives at other OTAs and some of the Indian airlines also confirmed the surge in air traffic between the UAE – especially Dubai – and India since March.
Pent-up travel demand because of Covid-19
Industry executives said visiting relatives and friends (VRFs) was the first segment to pick up in the India-UAE sector, followed by leisure travel.
“While the easing of travel restrictions led to a sudden demand for travel in the VRF segment, the Expo 2020 Dubai aided in a big way for the leisure travel demand between various Indian cities and Dubai,” said a senior executive at an Indian airline, who wished not to be identified due to company communication protocols.
Thapa said as soon as the pandemic-related restrictions on air travel started to ease, people who had not met their relatives in a long time made it a first order of priority to physically spend time with their near and dear ones.
The Cleartrip business head said VRF travel continued to go strong, going by the booking trends.
“As comfort with travel subsequently picked up, with more countries opening up borders and dropping stringent requirements for quarantine, leisure travel started to bloom, compounded by the Expo 2020 effect,” Thapa said.
Dubai is the top transit airport for Indian travellers for their onward journey to western destinations such as the US, the UK, Europe and Canada.
Industry executives said business travel is yet to see a significant pickup, despite companies around the world are slowly getting back to offices for work.
“Many businesses seem to have adjusted to remote ways of working and many meetings and conferences are still being held in remote or hybrid format,” Thapa said.
Airfare is increasing
On the rising trend of airfares between the UAE and India, Cleartrip said its data indicated a significant rise in recent months.
“The average booking value has increased by 17 percent in June over the previous month,” Thapa said.
Indian budget carrier SpiceJet has recently indicated going for a hike in airfares up to 15 percent across sectors in the wake of a sharp increase in aviation fuel prices by Indian oil marketing companies in mid-June.
Industry executives had then told Arabian Business that other Indian carriers might also follow suit as the rise in aviation fuel costs, coupled with the sinking rupee value impacted their operational costs.
They had said this would lead to a jump in airfares, including in the India-Gulf routes.
Thapa said besides the oil price shock and the ensuing widespread inflation, a sudden spike in air travel demand has also taken the industry by surprise.
Airlines have struggled to add capacity by bringing back staff – furloughed during the pandemic – or making the grounded planes ready for flying, he said.
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