REFLECTIONS
Closed for business ... this winter
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During the season of good cheer, there was little to celebrate for the late-comers. The reason? Airline seats, no matter the open sky policy, were all booked to the brim, says NEELAM MATHEWS.
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I RECEIVED an urgent call in the middle of the night the other day from a friend in the United States asking if I could help her get a ticket to Delhi in the third week of December. "No problem," I thought. For who in their right minds, would want to be travelling to the country on Christmas and out of it on new year?
I was wrong. Very wrong. My travel agent looked at me as though I had popped out of the books of a Disney cartoon. "Goofy, chances are your friend better prepare herself for a bout of depression," I was warned.
Guess what? She was offered a ticket, not at the $1,400 she was willing to pay, but for $2,000, and that was only because my agent friend had "managed", to get it himself at an almost no profit margin.
Meanwhile, my pleas to confirm a return seat for another friend to hot shot companies like BelAir were put aside. "Forget it," said managing director Pawan Jain, sternly. Jain did tell me I could come back to him "perhaps" in the first three weeks of January, when airlines have slashed discount offers by 20 per cent. That meant simply, that tickets that are selling to Europe around Rs. 40,000 will be offered at Rs. 33,000, a far cry from just a year ago.
"There is a shortage of capacity," says Jain. "And while airlines have been permitted extra flights this season to India, planning is done at least six months in advance. Aircraft are not taxis parked on the roadside that can be hailed any moment."
Looking back, I think it was best that providence did not get my friend to fly in this season. For even if it did, there would be many irritants that would probably make her short holiday a nightmare — delayed flights, over-booked hotels and domestic flights to holiday destinations such as "happening" Goa.
So during the season of good cheer, happiness and lots of spirited nights, there was little cheer in store for the late-comers.
The reason? Our sky, no matter how open the government would have liked it to be and hotels, that till recently, had their staff playing monopoly, were all booked to the brim.
To start with, the fog in Delhi was back. No matter how many seasons have passed with airport officials promising us that the "newly installed" Instrument Landing System (ILS) that matches "world standards" is with us, airlines haven't got it quite right. Either their aircraft have not been equipped or pilots not trained. And while carriers such as British Airways and Singapore Airlines bravely change their schedules from arrivals and departure times to a more earthly time, it makes one wonder why it could not happen the year round. There are airlines that continue to do wishful thinking hoping the fog will miraculously go away sticking to old arrival times. It doesn't, as we all know. Instead it stays and makes our holiday cheer seem to go down the drain.
There are facts that we have got to face starting with travel agents and airlines saying bookings for the December to February period are 15 to 20 per cent higher than last year, and no seats are available.
"Outbound bookings for Europe and Southeast Asia are up 23 per cent over last year. This has led to a massive seat crunch, and as of now, no tickets are available on these sectors for the holiday season," said Ankur Bhatia, managing director (Indian subcontinent), Amadeus global distribution systems.
And though the open sky policy has been announced, not many airlines have increased seat capacity. "The Government has given a very short notice for the offer, so it is difficult for some airlines to change their schedules now. Moreover, capacity on some sectors has to be increased 25 per cent to meet the demand," said Balbir Mayal, president, Travel Agents Association of India.
Sage counsel helps. If you are planning a holiday abroad or in India, book your tickets as early as possible. Despite the Government's peak season open-sky policy, which is supposed to add substantial capacity during the December to February period, getting tickets for travel to India has become virtually impossible. This advice will also prove useful for those flying out of India during January and early February 2004, particularly if you are planning to fly out to the west, that is, the U.S. or Europe.
There is of course no optimism to the traveller when he hears that an estimated 4,000 seats per week were to be added following the open sky policy. Incidentally, even this is not enough to meet the demand, says a travel industry source. Offloading is inevitable if current trends continue, so be prepared to growl a bit more than you do in the rest of the year.
Even our very own Maharajah Air-India, has its hands...errr ..... flights full with a mad rush for seats to London, Frankfurt, Paris, New York and Chicago. "All routes on our network are witnessing a spurt in load," said an Air-India official recently. "It is not possible to get a seat to India from the U.S. right now. From December onwards it will be difficult to book a seat from India to the U.S. as colleges reopen and U.S.-based Indians return to work."
And if you think you'll beat the trend by going through the Gulf, perhaps giving you a chance to have a rushed look at the gold soukhs, you're wrong again. Somebody got there before you, something you could try next year, if you still have some energy left!
With a lot of short-haul moving east, no seats "on the computer" are available to Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. A source says lower class seats have vanished and the excursion fare to KL, that was Rs. 18,000, is just not around anymore. Meaning that, you've got to fly business or be prepared to take a chance on the wait list.
Marriott Hotels director Sheema Vohra says: "There's a of lot travelling for the last weekend of the year. Currently, the region is booked in advance and is full." Hopefuls for the J.W Mariott Phuket , are sure to be disappointed. Fortunately, unlike the computer bookings of many South East Asian carriers, one knows there is transparency in Marriott's distribution system. Only the true-to-time customers win!
A source tells us that wholesale ticketing agents are blocking seats even for domestic sectors, particularly to Goa. "Tickets are being held as a safe measure. Around December 20, tickets were only available at a higher fare to Goa.
Sri Lanka Tourism representative Rajeev Nangia says hotel and air bookings through Christmas and New Year were available only against cancellations. "The same story is applicable to flights out of India. "Sri Lankan Airlines started nine extra flights to India from December 1."
Not that things are any better in the capital.
"SOLD OUT," says Intercontinental Park Royal director, PR, Abha Negi. The biggest rush was for restaurants during Christmas and new year. Says Negi: "This year we took the gastronomical route with less noise and a younger executive crowd wanting to eat in peace and then party with gusto."
At least, seating, unlike for airlines, was available!
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