THE forthcoming holiday of Diwali seems to be creating phenomenal demand in the aviation sector. Along with this, the domestic airline fares are sky-rocketing on account of the Diwali festival starting Saturday (October 22), revealed sources on the condition of anonymity.

At present the worst affected by high airfares are the travellers coming from major cities like Mumbai, Pune and New Delhi to Nagpur as air fares have more than doubled in most cases. There are a large number of people from Nagpur residing in cities like Mumbai, Pune and New Delhi. Every year during the holidays they tend to return to Nagpur and enjoy the holidays with parents, relatives and friends thereby increasing demand for air tickets, sources pointed out.

Apart from this, people are clubbing the weekend holiday of Saturday and Sunday (October 22 and 23) with

Diwali (October 24) and Govardhan Pooja (October 25), which is adding to the air traffic, sources said.

On the Nagpur to Mumbai route air fares are being quoted at Rs 6,000 per ticket to Rs 11,000 per ticket till October 21. Similarly, the airfares from Mumbai to Nagpur are as high as Rs 23,000 per ticket as on October 21. Otherwise, the average price of the ticket on the Nagpur-Mumbai route is at Rs 3,500 per ticket to Rs 5,000 per ticket, sources said.

On the Nagpur-Pune route the air fares are at Rs 6,000 per ticket to Rs 8,000 per ticket and on the Pune-Nagpur route it is an astonishing Rs 18,000 to Rs 19,000 per ticket.

However, the average airfare is at Rs 3,500 per ticket to Rs 5,500 per ticket.

Similarly, on the Nagpur-New Delhi route the airfares are at Rs 6,000 per ticket to Rs 12,000 per ticket. But, the New Delhi-Nagpur route the airfares have swelled to Rs 18,000 per ticket to Rs 19,000 per ticket. The average airfare is at Rs 4,000 per ticket to Rs 6,000 per ticket, sources said.

Also, on the Nagpur-Bangaluru route the airfares are at Rs 6,000 per ticket to Rs 9,000 per ticket.

While the Bangaluru-Nagpur route the airfares have inflated to Rs 17,000 per ticket. The average price of the airfare on Nagpur-Bangaluru route is at Rs 4,000 per ticket to Rs 6,000 per ticket.

The major airlines with operations from Nagpur airport are Air India, Indigo and Go First. The airfares tend to change as per the demand and supply, timings and the airline people choose. Further, it is generally seen that during the weekends the airfare prices rise, sources mentioned.