Flights to Ayodhya sees 150% increase in bookings, three-times higher prices

New Delhi: Passengers will have to pay at least three times more than average fares, if they plan to fly to Ayodhya during the time of the inauguration of the Ram temple, data sourced from online travel portals shows. Ayodhya’s Maharishi Valmiki International Airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 30. “Amidst the grand Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony at Ayodhya on 22nd January, we are seeing a remarkable 150% increase in Ayodhya flight bookings since January 01, 2024 for 21st-23rd Jan…Additionally, we’ve seen a 70% increase in flight searches to Ayodhya since Jan 1,” Nishant Pitti, CEO and Co-Founder of EaseMyTrip said. Speaking on the demand of hotel stay in the city, Rajesh Magow, Co-Founder & Group CEO of MakeMyTrip said, “Given the comparatively small visitor base for Ayodhya previously, we see a 5X upside in searches and are already recording 4X more bookings as compared to last year. Expectedly, the duration of Jan 10-22 is seeing a sharp increase in bookings.” Magow said that the room night bookings in Ayodhya are almost 10% of the top pilgrimage sites in the country so the potential for growth is significant.