♦ December air fare from Calcutta to Delhi: Rs 2,600
♦? December air fare from Calcutta to Bangalore: Rs 3,500
A surfeit of new flights from Calcutta is dragging down domestic airfares from the city during winter, prompting industry watchers to predict a record plunge in December when the demand peaks.
Airlines said as many as 20 more flights would be introduced on various domestic routes from Calcutta from November, a move aimed at consolidating market shares before competition hots up.
Airfares to Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore are cheaper by at least Rs 1,000 on average in December than they are in November.
On Thursday afternoon, the average Calcutta-Delhi fare for December was Rs 2,600. The Calcutta-Mumbai and Calcutta-Bangalore fares for the month were Rs 4,000 and Rs 3,500, respectively.
Tour operators as well as officials of various airlines said the average fare to all these destinations used to be at least Rs 2,000 more on average even during lean seasons.
Unlike earlier years, even the Diwali fares are not skyrocketing.
The average Mumbai-Calcutta and Delhi-Calcutta fares for October 28 and 29 - Diwali is on October 30 - were around Rs 6,500 on Thursday.
In contrast, the Diwali-eve airfare from Mumbai to Calcutta had soared to Rs 50,000 in 2012.
"This year the fares are unlikely to go anywhere near that range," said Anil Punjabi, chairman (east), Travel Agents Federation of India.
"The capacity now is much more than the demand even in the domestic sector in Calcutta and air fares will come down further in December as more flights are being introduced."
Several tour operators said the domestic fares would plunge to the lowest level in several years in December, which is considered a peak travel season.
Till October, the passenger footfall at Calcutta airport has increased by 10.9 per cent against a 31 per cent rise in the flight count compared with last year.
Six of the new flights already introduced are IndiGo's. They are flying on the Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Guwahati and Bhubaneswar routes.
Jet Airways will introduce three flights - two on the Delhi and one on the Bangalore routes - on October 31. SpiceJet will add six flights from November on the Silchar, Aizawl, Bagdogra, Visakhapatnam, Gorakhpur and Guwahati routes. GoAir is adding three flights.
Air Asia India will come to Calcutta early next year, while Vistara has been operating three flights from the city.
"We are definitely coming to Calcutta early next year," said Amar Abrol, AirAsia India CEO. Officials of the airline said they were planning to start with a flight to Delhi.
Aviation experts said that by introducing more flights the airlines were trying to consolidate their market shares before more players fly in.