Airfares across domestic as well as international routes in India have risen on a sequential basis since March 2026, according to datasets analysed by businessline, with international sectors witnessing a sharper increase amid higher operational costs and strong summer travel demand.Key metricPricing trends shared by online travel agencies (OTAs) ixigo, Cleartrip and Wego showed that international average booking values (ABV) and route-level fares continued to rise through April and May. In simple terms, ABV is the total amount of money a traveller spends on a single transaction, serving as a key metric for how much revenue a platform or airline generates per confirmed reservation.Data is not available for the North American routes as domestic airlines have curtailed operations and comparable figures cannot be obtained. According to data shared by Wego, international ABVs increased significantly from approximately ₹22,700 in February to over ₹32,600 in May.Domestic ABVs rose at a slower pace from around ₹8,800 to ₹9,400 during the same period. Data released by Cleartrip showed that average international airfare for April/May 2026 stood at ₹74,500 compared, with ₹52,000 in the corresponding period last year.Additionally, domestic airfare averaged ₹8,450 against ₹5,850 a year earlier. The sharper rise in international average booking values reflected growing traveller confidence in cross-border travel, said Bernard Corraya, General Manager, Wego, adding that users were spending more on longer stays, premium experiences and international journeys.Sequential increase was visible across several international sectors tracked by ixigo. A case in point was Mumbai-Kuala Lumpur fares, which rose from ₹10,778 in March to ₹22,650 in April before remaining elevated at ₹21,069 in May.Data showed that New Delhi-Ho Chi Minh fares increased from ₹14,688 in March to ₹23,178 in April before easing marginally to ₹21,256 in May.Similarly, Bengaluru–Singapore fares climbed from ₹12,417 in March to ₹19,914 in May, while Mumbai-Krabi fares increased from ₹15,186 in March to ₹21,500 in May. New Delhi-Phuket fares rose from ₹13,404 in March to ₹19,500 in May.The trend in long-haul sectors also recorded elevated fare levels during the period, with fares between New Delhi and Paris increasing from ₹33,442 in March to ₹39,242 in April, while Mumbai-Singapore fares climbed from ₹15,680 in March to ₹22,617 in May.Domestic fare movement remained comparatively moderate. Airfares on the Mumbai-New Delhi route increased from ₹6,530 in March to ₹7,526 in April before easing slightly to ₹7,442 in May. Bengaluru-New Delhi fares rose from ₹7,931 in March to ₹8,969 in April and remained elevated at ₹8,799 in May.Published on May 18, 2026