Holiday Air Crunch From Chennai Leaves Direct Seats Sold Out and Fares Soaring
Last‑minute fares on detours via Bengaluru spiked to over ₹13,000 on some routes.
Overview
- Airline officials reported a sharp festive surge on routes from Chennai to southern Tamil Nadu districts.
- All direct tickets to Thoothukudi were sold out for Wednesday and Thursday, with similar constraints on Madurai, Tiruchy and Salem sectors.
- With Thiruvananthapuram options also full, many travelers are routing through Bengaluru to reach Thoothukudi and other destinations.
- Representative fares jumped sharply: Chennai–Thoothukudi rose from about ₹4,100 to roughly ₹13,400 via Bengaluru, Madurai to about ₹13,160, Tiruchy to about ₹13,842, and Salem to about ₹8,688, with Coimbatore nearly doubling.
- Passengers are urging airlines to add flights or deploy larger aircraft on key regional routes to ease congestion and contain prices.