Chennai airfares have surged sharply ahead of Diwali, with fares on several inter-state and intra-state routes rising to more than three times their usual levels as flights fill up and passengers leave the city for the holiday weekend.
A ticket from Chennai to Delhi, normally priced at around ₹10,844, was being sold for ₹17,570. The fare to Kolkata had increased from ₹7,612 to ₹16,954, while a Chennai-Ahmedabad ticket had risen from about ₹7,240 to ₹12,218.
The steepest increases were reported on some connecting routes. A Chennai-Bhubaneswar ticket, usually priced at around ₹7,199, was available for ₹27,650 via Mumbai. The fare to Jaipur had risen from ₹10,199 to ₹20,601 via Bengaluru.
Passenger movement from Chennai increased from Friday as Diwali falls on Sunday and the Tamil Nadu government has declared Monday a holiday. Demand has been particularly strong for northern destinations including Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Bhubaneswar, where Diwali is observed as a five-day festival beginning Friday.
Airfares to destinations within Tamil Nadu have also risen significantly. A Chennai-Thoothukudi ticket, usually costing ₹6,768, was priced at ₹17,363. Fares to Madurai increased from ₹4,647 to ₹16,969, while tickets to Tiruchirappalli rose from ₹5,066 to ₹14,778.
A Chennai-Coimbatore ticket that normally costs around ₹4,605 was available for ₹14,870, and the fare to Salem increased from ₹3,503 to ₹12,769. The increases affect routes that connect Chennai with major employment, education and family networks across the state, leaving passengers with limited alternatives during the holiday period.
Fares on other popular routes have also risen. A Chennai-Mumbai ticket was priced at ₹9,335 against a usual fare of ₹5,431. Tickets to Hyderabad were available for ₹9,351, compared with a usual fare of around ₹5,600. Fares to Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi stood at ₹10,945 and ₹9,454 respectively, against usual levels of about ₹5,000.
A Sankar, president of the Indian Air Passengers Association, said the pattern recurs during major festivals. He said repeated complaints to Union civil aviation minister K Rammohan Naidu and through the AirSewa portal had not resolved the issue.
The fare increases come as most flights on the busiest routes are reported to be filling up. The current rush is being driven by the concentration of travel around the Diwali weekend and the additional holiday on Monday, with passengers competing for a limited number of available seats. No further official action on the fare increases was reported in the source material.
