Karipur: A sharp increase in airline ticket prices is being witnessed as school vacations have begun in Gulf countries. The increase is estimated to be about 200 percent more than the usual prices. All the major airlines have increased their fares to the extent that expatriates are forced to pay huge sums to come back home to Kerala for vacations.

The fares to Kozhikode, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur airports have increased. The fare from Jeddah to Kozhikode, which was less than Rs 12,000, has now gone up to Rs 41,864. Similarly, the rates to Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur airports are Rs 38,684, Rs 39,847 and Rs 44,586 respectively.

The ticket rate from Abu Dhabi, which was Rs 10,650 earlier has now increased to Rs 32,535 to Kozhikode, Rs 30,065 to Kochi, Rs 28,091 to Thiruvananthapuram and Rs 34,805 to Kannur.

Ticket prices from Dubai have also witnessed a hike as it increased from Rs 12,000 to Rs 29,600-30,880.

Similarly, the rate of airline tickets from Sharjah to Kerala which was at Rs 8,000 has now gone up to Rs 30,000-Rs 34,100. This is the rate for all dates till the first week of August.

Expatriate families usually fly to Kerala in July when the schools close for summer vacation in the Gulf countries. Airlines are trying to monetise this situation. As per current rates, a family of four will need to spend an average of Rs 1 lakh on ticket prices to travel back to Kerala.

The rates for the months of September and October, when expatriates return back to the UAE are also similarly high. In this situation, Malayalis in the Gulf are facing an unprecedented crisis. Since most have already made plans to visit their homeland during this time, they end up bearing these high costs and spending a huge sum for travel expenses alone.