Prices of plane tickets up by 50 to 70 pc during Eid

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KUWAIT CITY, Aug 20: Prices of plane tickets increased by 50 to 70 percent during Eid Al-Adha holiday this year, compared to prices at the same period of last year, reports Al- Anba daily.

This price hike is believed to be the result of higher demand for tickets, especially after the announcement that the Eid Al-Adha holiday will be nine days. A number of Kuwaiti families decided to spend the holiday abroad, while a large percentage of expatriates decided to travel to their home countries.

Booking logs revealed that there are no available flights to Beirut, Cairo, Turkey and Dubai on Aug 20-21; only transit tickets are available with long waiting periods – 10 hours or more – and at higher prices, more than KD 400.

The increasing demand minimized the difference of prices between commercial and economy airlines. An officer in charge at Kuwait Airways Corporation revealed they adopted the free market policy, affirming that airlines reached their full capacity during Eid Al-Adha.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) recently issued a circular for airlines not to schedule additional flights during Eid due to the limited capacity of Kuwait International Airport.

The directorate explained the airport could not accommodate a huge number of passengers who might book tickets at the last minute before the Eid vacation.

The directorate confirmed that the situation at the airport will improve once the passenger building T4 for Kuwait Airways is fully operational.

The directorate added some countries where Kuwait Airways flies have adopted the ‘locked sky’ policy, which means preventing competitors from sending additional flights operated by the national carriers of these countries in order to protect the latter and to maintain fair competition

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