Airfares from Dubai to major locations around the around the Far East, Europe and South Asia could rise by 80% during the forthcoming weeks as demand outruns supply.
Travel industry supervisors urged UAE travellers to book their flight tickets soon as further delays will lead to higher ticket prices and could also lead to not getting the ticket on the desired date.
The managing director of Pluto Travels, Avinash Adnani, asked travellers to book their seats soon as demand is rising everyday.
Adnani further added that the sooner, the better, as seats are limited, and demand surpasses supply. Airlines are not working to their total capacity.
On Monday, 20 June, Dubai’s flagship carrier, Emirates, asked passengers who have not still planned their holidays or made travel arrangements must go-ahead to book now to ensure they can travel on their desired dates.
It further stated that more than 550,000 passengers are expected to fly out from the UAE in June and July during 2,400 weekly network-wide departures.
The manager of MICE and holidays, Galadari International Travel Services, Mir Wasim Raja, stated the summer travel period would be quite busy as the aviation sector is recovering very strongly after COVID-19.
He further said, “It is becoming difficult to get tickets to popular destinations. Airfares have already rocketed, rising by 50% from July onwards due to the Eid Al Adha holidays and summer schools break. The airfares will remain high and continue to increase until the end of July.
Avinash Adnani also said that tickets to Bali have risen to almost Dh5000 as people wanted to fly from Europe to Bali prefer to travel with Emirates as it is a quality long-haul airline.
Similarly, a Dubai-London return ticket is estimated at around Dh3600 for the next week, which rises to over Dh5500 during the next month and could also go up to Dh6,500-Dh7,000, stated Avinash.
He also added, “Even when we look at India, airfare is about Dh2,200 for the full-fledged carrier, and it will rise to Dh3,500 and Dh4,000.”
Presently, lower economy seats are almost sold out to popular locations and what is remaining is costlier tickets for higher economy class.