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travel2 months ago
Airfares have nearly peaked and are likely to see downward pressure in the post-summer period as airlines look to add more seat capacity, say travel industry executives.
Airfares have spiked mainly due to post-pandemic pent-up demand, high oil prices and revenge travel and tourism that the world saw in the last two years.
“By this summer, all of the supply constraints will be worked out and some of the ticket prices will be back to normal range. Ticket prices are substantially higher as compared to what they were pre-Covid. I hope airlines increase the frequency and put some downward pressure on prices. Big Gulf carriers are back to where they were preCovid-19 level but Asia Pacific carriers are bit a slower,” said Ross Veitch, CEO and co-founder, Wego.
Veitch expects around another 15-20 per capacity could be added by summer this year.
Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO, flydubai, on Monday said airfares have reached their peaks and are likely to stay at that level for the next few months.
“Airfares are still very strong and as there is a huge increase in fuel prices. Airfares are at their peaks as it is a supply and demand issue. I believe it (airfare) will stay there till summertime,” Ghaith said.
In order to meet growing demand, Emirates announced additional Eid Al Fitr flights while flydubai and Etihad Airways have added new routes.
Wego's founder added that some of the supply is still coming back online as not all of the airlines have gotten their operations back.
As travel demand grows, searches on Wego have reached the pre-pandemic level.
He said: “There is a healthy mix of leisure and business travel, similar to pre-pandemic. Initially, it was trips to families and friends, but now we see more leisure travel this year than last year.”
Mathew Zachariah, marketing manager, Al Rais Travel, said people are much more travelling in the post-pandemic period and prefer destinations where they can get access to the country easier such as on-arrival and online visas.
“People try not to go to places where there is a lengthy visa process and they have to wait for the visas. Apart from that, people like and prefer to go four times a year as compared to two times in the pre-pandemic period,” he said.
Zachariah added that people prefer to go for short breaks, particularly on weekends to nearby places such as Georgia and Eastern Europe.
Zachariah said the UAE residents used to travel during the holiday period, but now that is not the case anymore.
“Ramadan and summer are also very busy seasons now.”
Farzana Sameer, general manager, Dadabhai Travel, said, the first quarter was excellent with tourists to Dubai overflowing. “All big companies want to acknowledge their companies so there is a lot of incentive travel by companies to their employees.
“We expect summer to be good. It won’t be a dead summer, but a moving summer. People want to travel. They had restrained themselves earlier, but not anymore,” she added.
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