A few days away from Holi, as families and migrants look for flights to head home to celebrate the festival of colours, ticket prices are burning a hole in their pockets. Airfares on several key routes have shot up sharply for travel around February 28, Saturday, the weekend ahead of Holi. Trains, people say, are over-booked, and many have stopped taking passenger reservations.
Such is the surge in airfares that in some sectors, ticket prices have risen by up to 185% compared to late March, a month after February 28. In some cases, a one-way ticket is hovering near Rs 20,000.
A person named Akshat on X said, “During the Holi festival, flight ticket prices have gone insanely high. For the middle-class, it’s becoming extremely difficult to travel home and celebrate with loved ones. Trains are fully booked, and flights from Bangalore to Varanasi are almost double the usual price.”
“Have been tracking prices for the past 10-15 days, but no relief at all. Festivals should bring people together, not make travel unaffordable,” the person added in a separate post.
The festive surge in airfares, seen during Holi and Diwali, has been a routine for quite many years. The Supreme Court on Monday expressed concern over the sharp rise in prices of air tickets, calling the issue serious. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta directed the government to file an affidavit within four weeks detailing the steps being taken to address the concerns raised in the PILs.
The matter is scheduled to come up for hearing on March 23, which is after the Holi rush subsides. So, there is no immediate respite for flyers as dynamic fares continue to surge and make people gasp.
The Bengaluru to Gorakhpur route is now listed at Rs 19,589 (plus taxes) for February 28, which drops to around Rs 7,000 a month later. This shows that the Holi airfare is roughly 158% higher than the usual price of tickets.
The fare surge is visible on routes connecting metros, like, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai with cities in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. By March 28, a month after the Holi rush, fares see a drop across most of these routes.
WHY AIRFARES SHOOT UP BEFORE FESTIVALS LIKE HOLI?
The spike in airfares is linked to peak seasonal demand. Holi triggers large-scale travel from metros like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru to regional cities in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. That is because these metros are where people from smaller towns and cities go to work.
Airlines follow dynamic pricing. As seats fill up, fares rise. The closer one gets to the travel date, and the faster the seats are filled up, the sharper is the fare increase. Limited non-stop options on certain routes also add to the pressure on the routes which have just one or two flights a day.
India Today Digital scanned fares across several domestic routes for February 28 and compared them with March 28, when prices returned closer to normal levels. The data shows steep corrections once the Holi rush subsides.
AIRFARE TO PATNA SURGE BEFORE HOLI
On the high priority New Delhi to Patna route, airfares show a sharp spike. A flight from New Delhi to Patna is on sale for Rs 11,056 for February 28. For March 28, IndiGo is offering tickets for the same route at Rs 4,502.
Both are non-stop flights of around 1 hour and 30 minutes.
The near 145% jump for the February date is a festive spike as Patna sees heavy inbound traffic during Holi, pushing fares upward.
Likewise, the New Delhi-Gaya sector shows a similar trend. IndiGo flights are priced at Rs 11,720 on February 28. The same airline lists fares at Rs 4,499 on March 28, a month later.
Again, the price gap is over 160%, underlining how demand for Bihar-bound routes peaks before Holi.
There are similar fare hikes on the New Delhi-Darbhanga and the New Delhi-Purnea routes.
On the Bengaluru to Patna route, the tickets on February 28 are priced at Rs 15,585. For the same route on March 28, the fare drops to Rs 7,500.
That is more than a 100% jump for the peak Holi season.
AIRFARES TO KOLKATA SHOW OVER 100% JUMP
Kolkata is another major destination witnessing heavy festive travel.
On the New Delhi to Kolkata route, IndiGo flights are priced at Rs 9,989 per adult for February 28. For the same route on March 28, tickets are available at Rs 4,799. The fare almost doubles for the pre-Holi date.
The air fare spike to Kolkata extends to southern metros as well.
On the Bengaluru to Kolkata sector, a SpiceJet flight on February 28 is now priced at Rs 12,412. An IndiGo option later, on March 28, is available at Rs 6,660.
Some routes are nearing the Rs 20,000 mark.
BENGALURU-GORAKHPUR AIR TICKET TOUCHES RS 20,000
The Bengaluru to Gorakhpur route is listed at Rs 19,589 for February 28. The same flight on March 29 shows significantly lower pricing.
On the Mumbai to Prayagraj sector, a ticket is priced at Rs 16,188 for February 28. For March 28, the fare falls to Rs 6,588. That’s a 146% hike.
The New Delhi to Gorakhpur route also shows sharp variation. In this sector, fares drop from Rs 8,563 on February 28 to Rs 2,999 on March 28. This marks a nearly 185% difference between peak and off-peak fares.
While the Supreme Court has expressed “serious concern”, for many migrants and their families who are booking at the last moment, the tickets are exorbitantly high. A seat that costs under Rs 3,000 in late March is crossing Rs 10,000 during the Holi rush.
Last year in 2025, airlines in India added 1,700 flights ahead of the Diwali rush. While airfares in India are deregulated, the DGCA said it was reviewing the air fare trends and instructed airlines to boost flight capacity to avoid sharp ticket price hikes.
On longer sectors from Bengaluru, airfares are crossing Rs 15,000 and even touching Rs 20,000. The pattern is consistent. Once the festive window closes, airlines correct prices downward. For passengers, early booking remains the only hedge against such spikes. For those who didn’t, heading home for Holi comes at a premium.
– Ends
(With inputs from Meenal Sharma)
