Taking advantage of the summer rush several airlines operating from the country are rapidly increasing their fares to select destinations.
With July and August being the peak holiday season airfares are projected to increase by about 35 to 200 percent with popular to tourist destination being the prime targets.
A return ticket to Cairo on Gulf Air in July to August has been priced at a massive D5,151 an increase of almost 223 percent compared to the current rate which is just Dh1,591.
Travel agents however point out that the hike this year is marginally less compared to last year.
"The fares were really high last year. In most sectors they had increased by more than 50 percent last summer. We are only seeing a rise of about 40 to 42 percent this summer," said Loka Vijaykumar of Net Tours.
Despite an increase in fuel prices the introduction of budget airlines and several new flights to popular destinations have increased the markets competitiveness thereby forcing the airlines to minimize their increases, she said.
Al Jazeera Airlines is the latest budget airlines to start operations from Dubai.
"Tour operators or travel agents do not benefit in any way. Our mark up will always be the same. The airlines want to cash in when there is a demand," said Vijaykumar.
According to her people are aware of the summer rush and have been planning their trips in advance. "Travelers to Mumbai started booking their tickets two months to three months in advance," she said.
Return fares to Mumbai currently D1,140 on Air Arabia are expected to rise by Dh1.698 by July. The Sharjah based budget airlines usually introduces additional flights to the Indian Subcontinent to handle extra passengers during the holiday season.
Air Arabia added an additional daily flight on Sharjah-Mumbai-Sharjah route from December 1 to January 31,2007 to accommodate the increase in passenger demand.
Gulf Air currently concluded a special offer for booking made before May 3,2007. Passenger from Dubai could book return tickets to Bangkok, Istanbul or Larnaca for just Dh990 and to Frankfurt, London, Kuala Lumpur or Paris for just Dh1,490 (both fares excluding taxes).
However to take advantage of the offer they had to fly out between 25 April and 15 June and return by 30 June 2007.
By Joseph George
© Emirates Today 2007
