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Despite high fares, holiday season sold out

MUMBAI: The aviation industry is singing carols all the way the bank this Christmas season. Despite high fares, business is booming and bookings this holiday season have gone up by 20% compared to the same period last year. Carriers flying to both domestic and international destinations are fully booked, say tour operators. They say bookings for Christmas and New Year as 2010 draws to a close surpass those of 2009 and 2008. According to the civil aviation ministry, there was a 10% growth in passenger traffic this year. Currently , most flights are either completely booked or have very few seats left. `` In fact, we are still getting calls for last-minute bookings,'' said Rajesh Rateria, managing director of Cirrus Travels. It was a very different story in 2009, as the aviation sector was just recovering from a lean year. `` After the slowdown began in 2008, we were wondering if the industry would show signs of recovery in the coming years. But things started looking up in 2009 and tourist traffic is even better in 2010,'' said a Mumbai travel agent. `` I am hoping that bookings will be almost 30% higher by the end of this season,'' he added. Even the big freeze in the UK does not seem to be deterring travellers who want to bring in the New Year in style. Travel agencies said they are still receiving requests for the Bombay-London sector despite the fact that flight schedules are chaotic because of snowstorms in Britain. Apart from London, USA and Canada, other favourite international destinations for Indian travellers are South-East Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Colombo and Mauritius, too, are attracting plenty of Indian travellers this winter. Within India, Gir and Bhuj have picked up on tourist traffic, said Jay Bhatia , director of Tulsidas Khimji Holidays. The travel business has never been better , and we are still booking, he added. Within India, tickets for tourist destinations like the golden triangle in Rajasthan (Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner ), Gujarat, and Kerala are selling out fast. "There's a dearth of direct flights to Jaipur, but travellers don't seem to mind opting for a connecting flight, which will take them to Rajasthan via Delhi. High fares on some sectors are hardly a deterrent to those planning to travel last minute,'' said the Mumbai agent. Heavy snowfall in the UK and other parts of Europe cast a pall on holidayplans, and much to the dismay and frustration of passengers many flights to London from Mumbai and Delhi were cancelled on Monday. Airlines operated limited flights due to snow at London Heathrow airport (LHR). Air India (AI) and Kingfisher cancelled their London-bound flights. Both carriers asked passengers to remain in touch with their staff for flight updates. British Airways said that it was able to operate limited flights to LHR. The situation seemed to ease towards the evening when Kingfisher announced that its flights from LHR to Mumbai and Delhi will operate and bring stranded passengers back to the country. London-bound Kingfisher flights which took-off from India and were supposed to land at LHR on December 19, but had to be diverted to other airports due to heavy snowfall , also reached their destination on Monday. Officials said that the situation may get critical if it keeps snowing in the UK. Even if passengers are going to the US or Canada, they have to halt at London and then fly out. But consistent snowfall may put their plans on hold, said a tour operator. Travel agent Jay Bhatia said that many NRIs, who were planning to spend their Christmas break in India are also stranded. One of my customers , a student studying in the UK was due to join her family for a holiday in Rajasthan. While the family has already reached Udaipur, she is still in London, waiting for the snow to thaw, said Bhatia. Besides London other travel destinationsParis, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and-Brussels were also struggling to clear passengers. Airline officials in Mumbai said that Indian passengers were also stuck in Belgium. Most passengers disembarked only with their cabin baggage. They were freezing as the airport authorities did not allow them to take checkin baggage. Transit visas were arranged after a long wait, said an official from a private airline.

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