Airfares from Dubai to popular destinations across the Far East, Europe and South Asia could jump by 80 per cent in the coming weeks as demand outstrips supply.
Travel industry executives advised UAE travellers to book their tickets now as further delays will make a bigger hole in their pockets and they could face the disappointment of booking direct flights on the desired dates.
Avinash Adnani, managing director of Pluto Travels, advised passengers to book their seats as early as possible because demand is growing with every passing day.
“The earlier, the better, because seats are limited and demand is outstripping supply. Airlines are not operating to their full capacity. For example, Emirates is operating at nearly 80 per cent of its pre-pandemic capacity. Similarly, other airlines are also not operating at full capacity, hence, demand is not able to meet the supply. As a result, airfares are definitely going to up further,” added Adnani.
On Monday, Dubai’s flagship carrier Emirates urged customers who haven’t planned their holidays or made travel arrangements to get ahead and book now to ensure they can travel on their preferred dates and flights as daily booking volumes are accelerating with the summer holidays drawing closer.
It said over 550,000 customers are expected to fly out from the UAE between June and July on over 2,400 weekly network-wide departures.
“Demand has reached almost pre-pandemic level but supply has not reached that level yet. So book it now because any further delays mean a bigger hole in the travellers’ pocket,” added Adnani.
Mir Wasim Raja, manager, MICE and holidays, Galadari International Travel Services, said the summer travel period is extremely busy as the aviation sector is rebounding very strongly.
“It’s getting difficult to get seats to popular destinations. Airfares have already skyrocketed, jumping by 50 per cent for July onwards because of Eid Al Adha holidays and summer schools break,” he said, adding that airfares will stay high – and continue increasing – till July end.
“Thailand, Singapore and Bali have opened up for UAE travellers and there is a strong demand on these routes because UAE residents get visas on arrival to these destinations,” he added.
Airfares to India could up to Dh4,000.
Avinash Adnani added that tickets to Bali have increased to around Dh5,000 because people who want to fly from Europe to Bali prefer to fly with Emirates because it’s a quality long-haul airline.
Similarly, Dubai-London return ticket costs around Dh3,600 for next week which jumps to over Dh5,500 for the next month and it could go up to Dh6,500-Dh7,000, said Avinash.
“Even when we look at India, airfare is around Dh2,200 for the full-fledged carrier and it will go up to Dh3,500 and Dh4,000,” he added.
“In addition to paying higher fares, UAE passengers will have to take via flights with stop-overs with local carriers which might not be best in terms of service if passengers delay their booking. Travellers will also not get desired dates to fly. Since supply is limited, chances are very high at seats will be sold out,” added Pluto Travels official.
Currently, he added, lower economy seats (such as saver fares) are nearly sold out to popular destinations and what is remaining is higher (costlier) economy class.
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