Dyninno Travel, said today that airline ticket sales from the US to India are bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels.
The company's research shows that the number of tickets sold to the passengers bound to India grew 30.8 per cent in September 2021 compared with the same period in 2019 and continues growing. In December 2021, it may grow up to 2.5 times compared with December 2019.
"Flights to India are very popular with those visiting friends and family. So, India is an important and attractive destination for us. We opened an office in Gurugram in 2019, so that travel agents could provide tailored services to both local and international customers of Dyninno Travel. We plan to increase the number of travel agents in India to over 500 in 2022," says Alex Weinstein, founder of Dyninno Group.
The pandemic still weighs on travellers' minds and passengers are avoiding long-term bookings. According to Dyninno Travel's research, only 7.4 per cent of travellers booked tickets over 120 days in advance in 2021.
In comparison, 18.8 per cent of passengers booked flights with a 120+ days booking window in 2019. The booking window of 0-30 days has accounted for over 38.2 per cent of advance purchases so far in 2021.
The data further shows that customers' preferred airlines are Qatar Airways, with a 19 per cent share of bookings, followed by Air India, which accounts for 16 per cent. United Airlines has clocked a 14 per cent share of bookings, followed by Emirates Airlines (12 per cent) and Etihad Airways (11 per cent).
Top five airlines preferred by customers Dyninno Travel also reveals that California, Illinois, and New York are the top departure states, accounting for 50 per cent of travellers bound to India from the US, while the fewest in Top 10 departures are from North Carolina and Washington.
The average fare per ticket was up by 9.5 per cent in 11M 2021 compared with the same period in 2020. But it is still 25 per cent less than the average fare per ticket in 2019.
The average price in 2021 was $1,745 per ticket. At the same time, the average number of tickets per sale in 2021 remains almost the same as pre-pandemic (2019) and mid-pandemic (2020) levels at 1.53.
(With inputs from ANI)
