Thursday, August 28, 2014

Passengers cry foul as Kerala-Dubai airfares skyrocket

Dubai: Airfares to Dubai from the Indian state of Kerala have skyrocketed by more than four times from now until the first few days of September as a result of the end of summer vacations and upcoming Onam festival.

Return airfare from Kozhikode, Kerala, to Dubai has gone up from around Rs19,000 (Dh1,150) a few weeks ago to as much as Rs78,500 (Dh4,790) around Onam (September 9), leading passengers in Kerala scrambling to other airports in India for cheaper options.

A Keralite who’s landed a job in the UAE changed his travel plans after he was told the airfare from Kochi to Dubai is a whopping Rs80,000. The jobseeker opted to travel from Thiruvananthapuram to Mumbai, and from there to Sharjah, paying altogether Rs60,000, thus saving Rs20,000 (Dh1,220).

“All return air tickets from Kerala, especially from Kozhikode and Kochi are very high up to September 10. These rates are four to five times more than the normal rate during other seasons,” said Abdul Rasheed, a Travel Consultant.
28/08/14 VM Sathish/Emirates 24|7
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