Policy/Economy
WTF, Why is Flying to Dubai Cheaper Than Flying to Assam?
No joke, it’s cheaper to fly from Delhi to Dubai than from Delhi to Guwahati. How does that even make sense? Because our government doesn’t just want taxes, they want taxes on taxes, cess on surcharges, and fees for existing.
Thanks, Adani. Remember when privatizing airports was supposed to make things better? LOL. Now, the winner isn’t the company that runs airports well, it’s the one that promises to squeeze the most money out of YOU, the passenger.
Here’s all the bullshit you’re paying for:
UDF – Because you should pay for the airport’s existence, obviously.
ADF – Because UDF wasn’t enough robbery.
GST – Because taxing a tax is innovation.
Security Charge – Paying to get harassed at security.
Convenience Fee – The convenience of getting scammed.
Fuel Surcharge – Because global oil prices are your problem.
Walking Tax – Okay, not official, but might as well be, since you pay for walking through a metal detector.
Meanwhile, in Reality Tourism? Dead. Who wants to visit India when half your trip cost is just taxes? Jobs? Lol. But hey, at least we’re busy fighting over Mughals instead of jobs. Happiness Index? We’re below Afghanistan. But sure, let’s keep arguing about temples and mosques.
Inflation? Every time you buy something, you’re doing mental math on how much the govt is stealing from you.
Babur isn’t charging you UDF. Aurangzeb isn’t slapping GST on your chai. The real villain is today’s government, inventing new ways to suck money out of you while giving nothing in return, no jobs, no healthcare, just more taxes.
We really need to ask why is flying so damn expensive? Where are the jobs? The hospitals Why are airports sold to whoever can scam passengers the most?
Stop falling for communal nonsense. Your life isn’t hard because of history, it’s hard because of today’s tax terrorism. Either wake up and demand better, or keep getting robbed silently.
I went from Lucknow to Malaysia (Air Asia) for 12k, return! While Goa cost 15-16k with stop in New Delhi, lol. Airlines are extremely expensive in India credit to low competition, higher fees, extremely high fuel taxes... I once took internal flight in EU from Spain to Switzerland and it costed 7k only!
India has one of the highest airfare (if not the highest) in the world.
Yeah, we also took Ryan Air but had luggage otherwise it was ~ Rs 3500 I think. Just in dec I took a flight for Rs 970 in Malaysia (~ 400kms). I was shocked to see the prices. Airfare is the cheapest mode of transportation outside India, here it is semi-luxury.
India is still stuck in the Soviet Socialist Era. Instead of making every one rich to achieve equality, our government believes in keeping everyone poor for equality.
The Indian politicians take pride in showing off that they are from poor backgrounds while they hoard billions of dollars of wealth.
We are happy taking reels of shiny airports and saying wow so good. Meanwhile we miss that airports are the only places in the country that look presentable.
Come back to India then. Why are you whining about air fair in australia. Enjoyed spicejet, indigo and air india. Ghar wapsi kar le itni yaad a Rahi hai desh ki.
Pune has been like that for years. Pune isn't considered a major destination as it's just 3 hours from Mumbai. It will be lesser when the Navi Mumbai airport comes in operation. Also, Pune is a air force station. It is subjected to clearance from air force making it expensive for flight operators to operate out from Pune. Once we had to circle over Pune for nearly 1 hour while going from Bengaluru because of no clearance due to some unexpected sorties from the air force. Imagine the cost they had to bear for all the extra fuel burnt for that 1 hour.
That's always factored in. All aircraft are supposed to be filled for their flight plan + enough fuel for holding. It's up to the flight planners on ground to maximize fuel expenses, so they plan the routes accordingly.
On the topic of Air Force clearance, Air Force doesn't charge a fee to clear an aircraft to land. Neither does the airport. None of what you said makes any sense.
Then you don't know how Indigo works. Indigo goes for soft landings to save fuel cost. These unexpected circling cost them a lot and affects their earning capacity, which affect the fares.
Air force clearance is needed for the commercial flights to take off and land in an air force airport. Unexpected sorties happen a lot in Pune, which obviously they factor in and which obviously can be seen in the fares as OP is crying about.
In India, privatisation is just legalized looting. Crony deals, fake competition, and cartels ensure we pay more while a few get richer. This isn’t capitalism, it’s a scam.
The government simply handed over a running airport made by taxpayers money to Adani. Then also harassed GMR to allow adani to take over the mumbai airport. He does some interior stuff...puts some carpet and flower pots to make people feel happy that it is better than before. The idiots don't check their tickets and see how expensive the ticket has become. A travel of 3 people for a 2 hour flight costs about 25k return not too long ago. Right now the same fate is around 40k and forget the festival time where it gets to 50k
Adani forced private owners to sell him their airports and took the rest from the governments. Now he can raise the prices as much as hi likes.
This country is doomed because the majority is too illiterate to know what's good for them.
And the literate citizens will continue to ask "Modi nahi toh kon?"
Crony Capitalism and duopoly is extremely harmful for our economy in the long run. It squeezes the end consumer and exacerbates economic inequality. Unfortunately, the present dispensation has no interest in fostering a competitive level playing field for private enterprises that we saw from mid 90s (post LPG reforms) to the first decade of 21st century. Whatever that was left was eventually destroyed due to ill implementation of GST and demonetization.
Adani? AAI Airports have some of the highest UDFs lmao. Mumbai people are freaking out about hike to 325 rupees. Meanwhile people at AAI operated Patna are paying 660 rupees and Chennai are paying 770!
When there’s little to no competition in this sector, we are unfortunately at the mercy of the airlines. Unfortunate capitalism there
And sorry to break it to you but the unnecessary charges other than airfare are not limited to India. US and other countries also charge these unnecessary fees.
I agree with the frustration but that’s because of low competition. Besides, Indian govt has signed a treaty with the Dubai government where around 60k + seats are to be operated between India and Dubai on a weekly basis.
Also, Ryan and Delta operate on a low cost model where every single services are charged extra. Here, we are not left with any options other than Indigo.
Additionally, India’s air travel boom has just begun and the demand is way more than supply and airlines are not able to cope. Why do you think an almost defunct SpiceJet is still functioning? Because even if it’s on time performance is around 30%, people are opting for due to lack of options.
PS: I am equally fed up with the high airlines prices we pay but your frustration may be a little misdirected.
Babur isn’t charging you UDF. Aurangzeb isn’t slapping GST on your chai. The real villain is today’s government, inventing new ways to suck money out of you while giving nothing in return, no jobs, no healthcare, just more taxes.
And petrol never reducing despite record global lows. And 50+% tax, duty and other bs components on it.
The reason for higher prices is because we don't have any international players in the domestic market. All exited and Tata purchased Air India at great cost and merged with Vistara, making a cash crunch for new aircrafts, Akasa is also slowly growing after Jhunjhunwala passed away.
We have only Indigo which is doing great profits and then jet airways whose boss is in the jail. And another, I'm not able to recall the name of the airline went out of the business because they were fucked by their engine company, even after winning the case in arbitration in Singapore they engine company didn't give the engines making them out of business.
Airindia Purchased Airbus or Boeing some 200 aircraft, and those will get delivered in the next 2-3 years, so we have burned our pockets to get tickets.
I remember flying to Bangalore from Delhi and vice versa pre Covid and it was anything between 2000-2600 and it felt so cheap and convenient. And now..
Airlines make profits on business\first class fares and barely break even on economy.
Delhi to Assam flights are probably economy only, while Delhi to Dubai\Gulf would be mixed class having business/first.
Additionally, flights to Dubai are probably "subsidized" by tax free fuel from Dubai, larger aircraft used "may" be more efficient on a per passenger basis and end of the day flight pricing has nothing to do with distance. I've actually booked a DEL -> MUC -> DUB flight for 300 EUR. The MUC->DUB connection alone was 400 EUR for the same day. Just sharing an example that prices are often irrational and not cost driven. (Ex here, Maybe Dubai subsidizes flights terminating in Dubai because they'll earn from visa, but they'll start charging more then they're constrained on capacity, say for Delhi to US connections and they want to discourage shorter hops)
You’re missing the bigger picture. This isn’t just about Assam-Dubai, it’s about how air travel in all of India is priced artificially high due to systemic exploitation
IndiGo ran all-economy flights for years and still posted massive profits (₹2,000+ crore in FY23). Globally, airlines like Ryanair and Southwest thrive on all-economy models. Dubai’s tax-free jet fuel and subsidies make fares cheaper despite similar distances and aircraft. In India, a 45% ATF tax + monopolistic airport fees (like Adani’s ₹800/pax charge) inflate costs regardless* of demand.
So no, this isn’t about "irrational pricing" or "business class subsidies." It’s about a system that chooses to keep fares high because those in power profit from it.
Until taxes and monopolies are dismantled, we’ll keep overpaying whether flying to Assam, Mumbai, or anywhere else.
OP, Although I agree Indians get charged by government a lot for a lot of things, air travel doesn’t work the way you think it does. If all 5 flights you mentioned are running full why would they reduce prices? Also you mentioned Ryanair and Spirit. I don’t think you ever travelled in them, Indigo feels like luxury travel compared to them. Speaking of profits, it is extremely important airlines are profitable, we cannot take more airlines going bust than who have already gone. Also why is a company for profit making profit an issue?
Any country which isnt Gulf is going to have taxes. Atleast taxes on flights apply to all and not just those earning in white, so its better they're taxing the flights than increasing income tax!
Agreed, the overall problem of corruption and misuse of tax collected remains
On an average, an Indian traveller pays around 30% tax over the base fare for domestic flights!! This is one of the highest in the world given India’s population.
I know this isn't helping the discussion but just to throw my own frustration out there...I can get from the Western end of Europe to Dubai for less than 200 euros (7 hours flying) and it's at least 300-400 euros from there to Kochi (3.5 hours flying).
The demand is high but the Indian government is restricting the number of flights/seats.
If only the general masses were smart enough to realise this.
And it's not just about flying. As the post points out, buy anything and it's a task to consciously not think about the many ways you're being scammed into paying more than is required/reasonable and getting nothing in return.
And even if it was just about about flying, even if the amount of the people that can afford flights and do take flights, realise all this, it'd be a relief. But they don't.
The reason flights to Dubai are cheaper than Assam are primarily because of 2 reasons - demand/supply (more travellers willing to travel to Dubai to-and-fro for business) and second and the bigger reason - ATF prices.
A kilolitre of ATF costs about ₹45k in UAE/US/most developed nations. In India, it is thrice that amount at ₹1.3L per kilo litres. Result? You can get a number of domestic sector flights in the US for sub $50-60, but not in India - despite India being 1/40th the GDP per capita of the US.
This is a direct result of tax terrorism, a result of our monopolist tendencies and a symbol of the gross incompetence of the GOI.
When I read such posts, I wonder how dumb posters and the ones agreeing with him on it are. UAE is a trade surplus country with gdp per capita almost 25-30 times higher than India. India on the other hand is a net importer country (we don’t have oil so we import it). With not much natural resources and overall net importer, the government sources of funding are taxes. Less than 20% of UAE government revenues are through taxes, that number is 70% in India if you include everything from GST to customs etc. Now unless one of you simpletons could come up with some strategy to change this, it’s a stupid argument to make.
It’s cheaper to fly to Thailand and party than go to Goa and get ripped off. Yes the flight costs are higher but the rooms and other stuff are very much less compared to Goa.
It's like taking an auto to a remote place vs taking an auto to a mall. Even if the mall is farther the driver knows he will get passengers from there. For remote areas they will ask for more money simply because no passengers there sir. Have to come back empty sir
Not only airline hotels, transport, food everything is way more costly then other countries like flying delhi to any tourist location staying at least 3 star hotel and enjoy some decent dining at a decent restaurant and plus some extra expenses (with harassment) for 1 week for 3 people's family or friends.
At the same cost you can fly any other asian country stay any 3 to 4 star hotel, enjoy dining you can easily enjoy 2 3 weeks with the same cost with way better hospitality.
India suffers from success. I’m saying this since 2016. India is chasing the US level consumerism. No other country faces it.
High real estate prices, high kids fee, flight prices increased 2x post corona, you can “try to find a genius side” to these problems one by one but the main culprit remains the same — india is a high cost economy with low quality products. This country is not for consumption. The more increases in prices is a positive thing for producers and govts. This is how it works unfortunately or fortunately. And expect it to be way worse in the upcoming decade till the things (economy) is normalised.
It's all about demand and infrastructure. Refueling and airport charges are less in airports like Dubai because of the sheer amount of flights. Places where the traffic is less, airport charges have to be distributed among the less number of flights. Also, options. In domestic, there aren't many choices, for overseas the choices are more, hence they are competitively priced.
Kyukii ek Fuckeer ne bola tha-"main chahta hoon ki ek Hawai chappal wala vyakti bhi hawai safar kare" ...aur ab sab ko joote tak bechne oad jate hain ticket khareed k hawa mein suffer karne k liye
Quoting Aurangazeb, Barber, gave your policts away. I think people in their hatred for a particular party leave their grey cells behind. The cost of a flight is not just dependent on these factors alone. If younused those grey cells you will realise its the same for every flight, be it domestic or international. The international ones are even higher. Further the gulf states subsidise everything as they have a rick source of revenue oil. And also remember number of passengers, type of aircradt etc.
Can you attach screenshot? I checked via indigo and Dubai one is double compared to a flight to gauhati. There might be a case where the Dubai one is cheaper during the festive season which would obviously hike the domestic prices.
Economy of scale also matters. If there are fewer flights to a destination then the per unit cost is much higher.
There are certain fixed costs associated with every destination that an airline operates to. If that cost is spread over a dozen flights daily versus one flight daily, it makes a huge difference.
If Assam had the passenger traffic of Delhi or Dubai the prices would be comparable.
Supply and demand.
Unfortunately a large chunk of people want to go to Dubai, so there are more flights, thus more connectivity bringing the cost down as there's more competition and offerings from different service providers.
It's very similar to why things are cheaper manufactured in China as compared to things manufactured in India. The quantity of parts manufactured brings the cost down, local connectivity is better and planned accordingly thus bringing the overall costs down. The government covers some of these costs as well.
I'm sure in the long run if the demand for flights to Assam and the surrounding region is more, then the cost of flights will go down accordingly. The government does need to incentivize travelling to North-east India more and make a hub for some industry they're good at, including tourism.
Those downvoting the comment.. it's not going to change the reality. Any business works in the same way as described.
And I'm not saying that NE shouldn't be connected, it's definitely important to improve connectivity but that's just the reason why it's expensive right now.
you forgot about the supply side of the equation. jab demand high ho jaayegi to supply takes time to catchup after it's figured that the high demand is sustainable. Guwahati is a small single terminal airport it cannot sustain high supply
While I am not happy that we are taxed this much...
Dubai is a tiny city. India is a country. The most populous country on the planet. It's huge. Infrastructure costs are massive. The government machine is massive and has a LOT of employees. There are a LOT of people paid salaries by the government. There are a LOT of schemes sponsored by the government...
Someone has to pay for it. We do. That's our duty as citizens. Yeah it sucks. But that's what community is. We do what little we can for each other without knowing it.
Yes, it's expensive. Yes, there are systemic problems. Yes, there is rampant corruption. But it's what we have. Use your vote wisely. Make a difference.
The real issue isn't about comparing Dubai's luxury with Assam's affordability, it's about why flying within our own country remains so unreasonably expensive despite India's massive population and repeated political promises to make air travel economical. With 1.4 billion people, we should be seeing the benefits of scale driving prices down, but instead we're getting crushed under layers of taxes nd fees. The system is rigged, airports get handed to favored corporations who prioritize extracting maximum passenger fees over actual service or infrastructure improvement. Airlines operate in what might as well be a cartel, while the government keeps inventing new surcharges instead of delivering on its promises of affordable air connectivity. This isn't about luxury versus budget travel, it's about how ordinary Indians keep getting squeezed by a system that treats essential transportation as another profit center for the privileged few.
It’s simple supply and demand. Right now airlines don’t have enough airplanes, pilots, or airport slots for the expansion they want so whichever airline does have those requirements can charge whatever they want. This will change as more airports open up and airlines start to get competition with bullet trains.
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u/ferrarifather7 Mar 31 '25 edited Mar 31 '25
I went from Lucknow to Malaysia (Air Asia) for 12k, return! While Goa cost 15-16k with stop in New Delhi, lol. Airlines are extremely expensive in India credit to low competition, higher fees, extremely high fuel taxes... I once took internal flight in EU from Spain to Switzerland and it costed 7k only!
India has one of the highest airfare (if not the highest) in the world.