With the festival season fast approaching in Nepal, airlines from India and China have jacked up their inbound fares more than threefold to cash in on the annual festive rush when Nepalis return home by the hundreds of thousands for the celebrations.

According to travel agents, the lowest priced ticket on the Delhi-Kathmandu sector that used to cost Rs7,000 to Rs9,000 now goes for Rs21,000.

Even these tickets on Indian Airlines are only available until September 21, after which the price will go up to Rs25,000. That’s not all. From September-end till the beginning of October, travellers will have to shell out Rs35,000 for the same ticket.

India’s national flag carrier operates 11 weekly flights on the Delhi-Kathmandu sector. The highest one-way economy class fare on Indian Airlines is Rs55,000.

Likewise, the cheapest one-way ticket on private Indian carrier Jet Airways will cost Rs30,000 from September 14-19. Kathmandu-based travel agencies said that all the flights were sold out from September 20 to October 11. After October 12, the price of a ticket will go down to Rs28,000, but seats will be limited. The highest economy airfare on Jet is Rs58,000 one-way.

The carrier operates double daily flights on the Delhi-Kathmandu sector and plans to add an extra flight from October, subject to the approval of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. 

Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo Air is selling tickets for Rs19,000 until September 20. After that a ticket will cost Rs23,000 until October 4. The same ticket will cost Rs30,000 after October 5. The highest one-way fare on IndiGo is Rs51,000.

Likewise, travellers flying to Delhi on Nepal Airlines will have to pay Rs16,000 apiece until September 28. After that a ticket will cost Rs19,000 till October 10. Nepal’s national flag carrier operates 11 weekly flights to the Indian capital.

“As Nepal Airlines does not have connectivity to other destinations from Delhi, it has not been able to cash in on the travel demand,” said Deepak Basnet, ticketing executive of Osho World Travel Nepal, one of the leading travel agencies in Nepal.

Basnet said that business class airfares offered by Indian carriers are lower than economy class this year due to limited availability, and they are usually sold out. A business class ticket on Indian Airlines is priced at Rs46,000 while it costs Rs48,000 on Jet Airways.    

Likewise, ticket prices on Chinese carriers have gone sky-high. The lowest airfare on China Southern Airlines that connects Kathmandu and Guangzhou is Rs55,000 to Rs78,000 one-way.

Seats on China Southern are sold out from October 1-16. An air ticket on the Guangzhou-Kathmandu flight usually costs between Rs38,000 and Rs40,000.

Likewise, the cheapest ticket on Air China’s Chengdu-Kathmandu flights will cost  from Rs68,000 to Rs88,000 one-way from September 21. The normal airfare on the route is Rs42,000.

Tickets on China Eastern Airlines that operates Kunming-Kathmandu flights cost Rs55,000 to Rs88,000 one-way until September 21. Prices will go up to Rs110,000 one-way in October. 

As the festival and tourist season in Nepal attracts a huge influx of travellers, foreign carriers usually hike their prices well in advance to benefit from the bonanza. “This trend continues until November-end after which inbound tickets become cheaper and outbound tickets become dearer.”