KOCHI: It’s almost a month for the Onam holidays, but the interstate luxury private buses have already jacked up ticket rates in the Bengaluru-Kochi sector, dealing a big blow to Malayalis in the IT hub who are planning to come home during the festive season. Flights appear to be a cheaper option as one can book in advance tickets starting from Rs 2,500, instead of travelling by road where you are forced to pay over Rs 3,000 for a bus ticket. Tickets for popular trains, especially night trains, are fully booked already.
For instance, the ticket prices of AC luxury buses departing from Bengaluru on September 12 (Thursday) evening so as to reach Kochi the following morning, range from Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,200. Ticket booking apps such as ‘Make My Trip’ reveal that the ticket prices further rise on September 13. Already a number of seats in the buses have been booked and private operators such as ‘Murahara Travels’ (only 19 seats left for online booking at the time of writing) charge Rs 3,515.
The ‘Yas Tours and Travels’ charges Rs 4,000 per head if the ticket is booked now. In comparison, the average flight charges in the sector are lower on the same dates. Carriers such as IndiGo are charging only Rs 2,515 for the nearly one-hour flight on September 12.
Even for the evening non-stop flights, tickets are available for Rs 3,090 (IndiGo: 7pm), Rs 3,195 (Alliance Air: 6.20pm) and Rs 3,298 (Air India Express: 4.45 pm), among others.
The flight charges, which stay in the s.