Airfares set to further surge in Bahrain

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Staff reporter

It is going to be a hard time for air travellers in Bahrain as the prices of air tickets are expected to remain high in the coming days.

The ticket prices have already increased between 15 and 20 per cent since the beginning of Ramadan four days ago.

Speaking to The Daily Tribune, a senior manager with a leading travel and tours company, said there are multiple reasons for the price rise.

“Global civil aviation industry is one place where you see the ‘Butterfly Effect’ the most. Any political turmoil or slight economic shifts can drastically increase the price of air tickets.

“As of now, we have two global components – the rising oil price and Russia-Ukrainian war. Oil prices are expected to remain reasonably high in the coming days and no solution has been found until now to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.”

He said the third factor is the incompleteness in the updating process of new flight schedules from all major international airlines. “We can see that many countries including Bahrain have eased Covid-19 restrictions as new cases have become minimal.

And this easing of restrictions is having direct implications on the aviation sector as the pandemic had a direct impact on global travel.”

The senior manager pointed out that, however, many international flights failed to update their schedules in line with easing of restrictions, “which is also one of the factors behind this air ticket price rise”.

“Almost all major international airlines are in the process of updating their schedules and once the process gets completed, I believe there will be a correction in the air fares. But again, that would happen only if the geopolitical situation and oil prices remain stable.”

Global aviation fuel prices surged to near 14-year highs in line with crude oil’s surge last Month and banning Russian oil imports following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine is considered the major reason.

And this factor continues to put a severe strain on the financials of all airline companies, which were financially devastated by intermittent lockdowns and resultant global travel bans. Bahrain resident Rajesh Kuchal, who plans a visit to his home country India, next week said he is in a state of panic over rising air fares.

“My parents live in India, whom I visit frequently as they suffer from many health issues. Rising airfares are definitely a matter to panic in these tough times when requesting a salary hike is unimaginable.

“I acknowledge the losses suffered by airline companies during the pandemic. But now, the majority of air travellers are from medium or low-income levels unlike the past when only the affluent flew in the sky.

“I request the authorities to exercise a regulatory control over air prices in order to ensure that justice is served to air travellers from low or middle-income backgrounds.”

According to an interdisciplinary scientific theory called the Chaos Theory, the butterfly effect concept has been used as a broad term for any situation where a small change is supposed to be the cause of larger consequences.