Abu Dhabi: The airfares to Kerala have soared to unimaginable levels as the Bakrid holidays in the UAE begin on Saturday. This is a setback for many expatriates who were hoping to celebrate the festival with their loved ones in their hometown while getting away from the scorching heatwave in the Middle East. Purchasing air tickets to celebrate Bakrid with your family may surely burn a hole in their pocket. Until two weeks ago, one-way tickets to Kerala were available for Rs 15,000; however, now, it costs up to Rs 35,000 – 1.5 lakh. A family of four members may have to pay an exorbitant amount of money to book tickets on flights to Kerala this week. Meanwhile, indirect flights and limited seats are available for this rate. The situation is no different in connection flights too. Besides spending huge amounts on ticket fares, the passengers on connecting flights will have to travel for 10 – 15 hours to reach home.

One-way tickets are available for Rs 50,000 in Indian airline companies like IndiGo, Spice Jet, Air India Express and Vistara. Meanwhile, the ticket price would be more than Rs 60,000 for Air India, Emirates Airlines and Etihad. Moreover, some foreign airline companies charge up to Rs 1.5 lakh for a one–way ticket. Tahir, a native of Pallikulam in Thrissur had booked a ticket on Etihad Airways on June 15 for his wedding. However, he had to advance his journey to June 12 due to some urgent reasons. Tahir said that he had to spend an extra 2000 dirham for the new ticket. Changing the date of travel during this busy season may cause further loss. Even though the flight tickets from Kerala to UAE are cheaper, the tickets from UAE to an airport in Kerala cost five times more. Not just in India, the ticket prices to most countries have increased due to the holiday season. The ticket fares may have gone up as the number of people flying to various global destinations for vacation, taking advantage of the public holidays in the UAE, too has increased.  

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