Kolkatans are scrambling to return home in time for the festivities from wherever they are and airfares are moving north.
On Wednesday evening, the fares on city-bound flights from Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, where hundreds of Kolkatans live because of work or education, were much higher than the usual rates for Sashthi, Saptami and Ashtami.
Since Saptami and Ashtami are coinciding with a weekend, many people will make last-minute plans, said tour operators.
The fares, they said, are likely to go up further over the next two days.
“Fares for Kolkata flights are particularly high in sectors like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Usually, the one-way fare from these cities to Kolkata varies between
Rs 6,000 and Rs 8,000,” said Avijit Das, director, Hermes Voyages.
Outgoing fares, he said, are also likely to go up in two days as many Kolkatans are flying out.
“I have 20 small groups flying to international destinations such as Egypt, Paris, Switzerland, Dubai and Thailand from Saptami,” said Das.
On Tuesday, the passenger footfall at the Kolkata airport was like any other day or, in case of departure, even less than that.
According to an airport official, around 25,392 passengers arrived in Kolkata in the domestic sector and 21,863 flew out on Tuesday. In the international sector, 3,114 passengers arrived and 5,756 flew out.
“The number is far less compared with the pre-Covid figures. Before the pandemic, the airport would handle more than 60,000 passengers in the domestic sector on a day,” said an airport official.
“We are expecting the number to rise over the next few days. We are equipped to handle the expected rise in footfall,” the official said.
According to the official, the airport’s infrastructure can handle more than 60,000 passengers in a day.
“Also, facilities like DigiYatra for domestic fliers and inline baggage check-in facilities have reduced the waiting time and queues,” said the official.
Tour operators said in some international sectors, fares have suddenly dropped because of addition of flights.
“In the Kolkata-Bangkok sector, the fares have come down drastically because of addition of a flight,” said Anil Punjabi, national committee member of Travel Agents Federation of India, representing east India.
He said that a fortnight back, the roundtrip fare in the sector was Rs 45,000, which came down to Rs 19,000 two days back. Many people booked tickets on the route over the past two days.
“Thai Airways has replaced Thai Smile flights and also Air India is adding a daily flight, which has brought down the fares,” he said.