Kolkata: Flyers attempting to buy tickets on European carriers that bypass Gulf sectors were in for a shock on Monday, with a single economy class ticket on a direct flight from London to Mumbai touching Rs 2.9 lakh. In business class, the fare scaled to Rs 9 lakh. Usually, a one-way economy fare between the two cities is Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000 while the fare in business class is Rs 1.2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh.
While many flyers opted to stay put wherever they were stranded instead of shelling out a fortune, some who were desperate to return bought tickets at astronomical rates on carriers like British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, KLM and Air France. Air India and IndiGo also operated some flights at record fares.
According to carriers, part of the hike was on account of longer routes that they had to traverse to bypass the conflict-ridden Gulf sector. ATC officials said flights taking off from Mumbai travelled via Oman, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greece, Italy and France to reach the UK. Foreign carriers departing Delhi flew over Pakistan, Afghanistan and Istanbul.
But a bigger chunk of the fare hike was on account of the demand-supply gap, with over 700 flights cancelled daily on account of the conflict. Though Etihad started evacuation flights and Emirates said it would follow suit on Tuesday (over 20,000 Indians are stranded in the UAE), the carriers cancelled scheduled flights on Monday and Tuesday.
Kolkata airport officials said Gulf-based carriers announced cancellation of 20 flights over two days: Eight Emirates Airlines flights, four flights each by Etihad and Qatar Airways, and two flights each by Air Arabia and FlyDubai.
Roma Subnani, a resident of CIT Road, was among those impacted. She was scheduled to travel to Dubai on Sunday with four family members to attend a function. The trip was called off after their flight was cancelled.
" We were booked on Emirates. We placed a request for a refund but have been unable to contact the Emirates customer care centre," Subnani said.
Partha Sarathi Saha posted on cocial media that he had connecting flights scheduled for March 3 from Copenhagen to Doha, and onwards to Kolkata, on Qatar Airways.
"The customer care isn't picking up the call. Please help or guide," he said.
Nehal Ahmed said his flight EK572 from Dubai to Kolkata, scheduled at 1.15 pm on Sunday, was cancelled. Another passenger, Anish Saraogi, said he was stranded in Dubai after the same flight was called off. "I tried for the past 12 hours, and all the methods to contact you were closed," he posted.
Travel agents who had clients booked to travel to either cities in the Gulf or onwards to Europe or the US advised them to defer their trips.
"Given the current fares, it does not make sense to travel to Europe unless one has urgent business commitments," said Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) chairman (East) Anil Punjabi. Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) chairman (East) Anjani Dhanuka said those requiring to travel to the US east coast urgently were booked on Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and Malaysia Airlines flights that travelled east across the Pacific. "There is no clarity on when the situation will improve," said travel agent Manav Soni.