Doha: Residents who haven't booked tickets yet to visit Europe or other popular destination during Eid holidays are likely to miss the bus because the flights on these routes are ‘almost full’. Situations is not better for the summer season as ticket prices have nearly doubled during June to end of August, according to travel agents.
“The flights in popular travel destinations are almost full during Eid holidays. This situation is applicable to all the airlines. Whatever few seats are left are in the highest category of that particular class. For example, if someone wants a ticket for Doha-London route in business class, the ticket will be around 50 percent costlier than the normal business class ticket,” a senior official of a travel agency told The Peninsula.
The demand for tickets for some destinations in Europe and far-east countries increases during summer vacation. UK, Germany, Switzerland, France, Turkey, Italy, Austria, Thailand, Malaysia are among the most sought after summer vacation destinations for residents.
“Due to high demand, the prices of tickets in these popular routes have gone up by upto 100 percent,” he said.
Starting from June till August is a busy season for travel agents and airlines. Schools are closed during summer which gives residents a chance to pack their bags and head for vacations in these three months.
This summer, travelling to the home country has become costlier for the Indian expatriates because of cancellation of Jet Airways flights, which was a major player in India’s aviation sector.
India-based Jet Airways halted all flight operations in April after its lenders rejected its plea for emergency funds, that brought the curtains down on what was once India’s largest private airline. The airline has returned the money to customers in Qatar who had booked the tickets for different destinations in India. But returning money has not solved problems for many Indians because closing for Jet Airways has created a shortage of seats on Indian routes.
“It looks like we will not be able to go to India this summer because of high prices. I had booked tickets with Jet Airways flight for my vacations starting from July but the airline has returned the money because of cancellation of its flights. I cannot book tickets for summer vacation from my earlier estimated budget because prices of same tickets have now doubled,” an Indian expatriate working as an engineer for a construction firm told The Peninsula.
