India-US return fares are unimaginably high

While there are quite a few airlines from India that travellers can take to reach the US, ticket prices are at an all-time high

PRAVASISAMWAD.COM

With the US opening its doors to vaccinated travellers, Indians are making a beeline to meet friends and relatives in the States. And while there are quite a few airlines from India that travellers can take to reach the US, ticket prices are at an all-time high.

Take the case of Kolkata. According to a report in the Economic Times, travel agents who have hardly had requests for international tickets have suddenly been bombarded with demand for tickets to the US. The travel agents, however, have not been able to cater to the requests: most flights are either full or ticket prices are more than double the regular fare.

For those wanting to travel from India to the US, the two-way fare is INR 1 lakh-INR 1.5 lakh. Earlier, the return fare was around INR 70,000. For those living in the US and wanting to visit India, the return fare is even higher at INR 1.5 lakh-INR 2 lakh. Earlier, this two-way fare was around INR 1 lakh.

The other countries through which travellers from Kolkata can fly to the US are Singapore which has started processing visas while Thailand is about to open up its doors

While there are direct flights from Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru to cities in the US, those from Kolkata have to fly to the US via Dubai or Doha. Emirates operates three flights a week, Qatar operates two flights a week from Kolkata.

The other countries through which travellers from Kolkata can fly to the US are Singapore which has started processing visas while Thailand is about to open up its doors. When it does, Thai Smile, the low-cost subsidiary of Thai Airways, could start operating to Kolkata. Apart from UAE and Qatar, there are international flights between Kolkata and Bangladesh as well as Bhutan.

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