Airfares may surge on Go First’s flight routes – Times of India

NEW DELHI: With India’s third-largest airline – Go First – filing for bankruptcy, the already high spot airfares could rise further on routes where the Wadia Group entity has significant presence as the peak travel season kicks in. Domestic air travel has been hitting new all-time highs since this March and all airlines are reporting over 90% occupancy. It means that there are few unsold seats and those affected by Go First cancellations or now not booking this airline will have to shell out anywhere up to 20% more, say industry insiders.
“Go First accounts for six of the about 30 (by airlines together) non-stops daily on Delhi-Srinagar and Mumbai-Goa routes, six of the 52 daily on Delhi-Mumbai, five of 13 on Delhi-Leh, and three of 10 on Delhi-Bagdogra. This is the peak summer travel season and, except Goa, all the other destinations are in demand. With few seats available, they will go at the highest levels that could be up to 20% higher than current fares,” said a senior official.
Aviation advisory AT-TV managing partner Satyendra Pandey said: “With almost 50% of its fleet grounded coupled with additional operational issues, Go First was already flying a truncated schedule. As such the overall impact to fares will be marginal. On certain routes such as Patna, Jammu and Leh the demand-supply imbalance can cause a spike. But that assumes competitors will not deploy additional capacity, which too is unlikely.”
“Unfortunately, this comes in the middle of the peak demand season and when school vacations are about to begin. If the past is precedent, refunds will likely be hard to come by. In the medium term, this decision by Go First will likely impact market risk premiums for all airlines and perception of the entire Indian aviation ecosystem,” Pandey added.
Go First has for now cancelled its May 3 to 5 flights. It remains to be seen if the cash-strapped airline, which has promised full refund to affected passengers, is able to do so. Union aviation minister J M Scindia says it is “incumbent upon the airline to make alternative travel arrangements for passengers, so that inconvenience is minimal”. While issuing a show-cause for cancelling flights without any prior intimation and causing inconvenience to the public, the DGCA has asked the airline’s plan to resume operations from May 6 as per approved schedule and also how it plans to accommodate affected passengers.