As Dussehra approaches, travel demand across India is expected to rise across flights, trains, buses and highways. The festive period brings a predictable increase in passenger movement as people travel to their hometowns, visit family, attend celebrations and plan short holidays.

For air travellers, this often means higher ticket prices, particularly when bookings are made closer to the travel date. Airlines use dynamic pricing, where different fare categories are available at different price points. As lower-priced seats are booked, passengers may find themselves choosing from higher fare categories.

The question, therefore, is not simply whether fares should be controlled. A wider issue is how India can ensure that passengers have enough choices, clear pricing and sufficient transport capacity during one of the country's busiest travel periods.

Why Airfares Rise During Festivals

Festival travel creates a sudden concentration of demand within a limited period. Routes connecting major employment and business centres with smaller cities, hometowns and pilgrimage destinations can experience particularly strong demand before and after Dussehra, Diwali and Chhath Puja.

Several factors can influence airfare during such periods. Lower-priced fare categories may sell out first, while higher seat occupancy and limited aircraft availability can push passengers towards more expensive options. Aircraft maintenance, crew availability, airport slots, fuel prices, airport charges and other operating costs can also influence the final fare.

Last-minute travellers have fewer alternatives and may therefore have to pay more if trains are full or bus services are limited.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has a Tariff Monitoring Unit (TMU) that monitors airfares on selected 78 routes on a random basis every month. According to government information, these routes cover about 27% of domestic air traffic. The monitoring checks whether airlines are charging fares within their declared tariff ranges. 

The government has also said that it engages with airlines during periods of high demand and encourages additional capacity. In October 2025, airlines announced 1,750 additional flights across 100 sectors to meet festive demand, with the government stating that the additional capacity helped moderate fares on most of those sectors. This approach highlights an important point: instead of relying only on fare controls, increasing available seats and improving transparency can give passengers more options during periods of concentrated demand.

Preparing Before the Festival Rush

The Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA can prepare for the festive period several weeks in advance rather than responding only after fares and passenger numbers have already increased.

One possible measure is a public festival travel dashboard showing average fares on major routes, fare movement over the previous seven to 14 days, available capacity, cancellations and delays, as well as alternative airports and other transport options.

Such information could help passengers understand whether a fare is rising because seats are becoming limited or because of wider market conditions.

Expanding Fare Monitoring

The existing monitoring system covers selected routes, but festival travel also affects smaller cities and routes with fewer alternatives. A temporary expansion of monitoring during major festival periods could focus on metro-to-hometown routes, airports serving major festival destinations, routes with limited competition and sectors where fares increase sharply within a short period.

Airlines could also be asked to provide regulators with information on available capacity and fare categories, while protecting commercially sensitive information. The objective would be greater visibility into the market rather than a blanket restriction on normal airline pricing.

Adding Capacity Where Demand Is High

Additional capacity can be another way to ease pressure on fares. The government can work with airlines ahead of the festive period to identify sectors likely to experience heavy demand. Depending on aircraft and airport availability, airlines could consider additional frequencies, larger aircraft, early-morning or late-night services and temporary capacity shifts to high-demand routes.

This is particularly relevant because airline capacity can directly influence the number of available seats during peak periods. Government information has previously cited additional flights and capacity redistribution as measures used during festivals and other exceptional periods. 

Making Airfare Information Clearer

For passengers, the price displayed before payment should clearly show the complete cost of the journey. This includes the base fare, applicable fuel surcharge, airport charges, convenience fees, seat-selection costs, baggage charges and cancellation or change fees.

Clear information can help passengers compare flights properly rather than making decisions based only on an initially displayed fare. A temporary festival-period review mechanism could also be considered for routes where fares rise significantly and passengers have very few alternative travel options. Any such measure would need to be transparent, time-bound and based on clearly defined conditions.

Why Additional Trains Matter

Railways remain an important option for festival travel because they can move large numbers of passengers between major cities and hometown regions.

For the 2026 Dussehra and Diwali season, the Central Railway's Solapur Division has announced 102 festival special train trips. The services include routes connecting Mumbai with Chennai and Latur, along with Kolhapur-Kalaburagi services. Reservations for these notified services opened from September 27 through computerised reservation centres, IRCTC and the RailOne app. 

The Mumbai-Chennai special services are particularly relevant to long-distance festive movement, while the other services provide additional capacity on routes connecting Maharashtra and Karnataka. However, additional trains alone may not solve the entire problem. Passengers still need to reach stations, enter platforms safely, board trains without overcrowding and find onward transport after reaching their destination.

Announce Special Trains Early

Special trains should ideally be announced well before the main festival travel dates. Early information allows passengers to plan their journeys instead of waiting until regular services are full.

A single, easy-to-search festival timetable can also help passengers find train numbers, routes, stops, operating dates, coach composition, fares and booking information. Railways already have detailed crowd-management procedures for festive periods. These include monitoring passenger movement, arranging special trains based on demand, additional booking counters, public announcements, medical facilities and passenger assistance. 

Match Capacity With Actual Demand

Additional railway capacity should be planned around actual passenger movement. Historical booking data, waitlisted tickets, unreserved coach crowding, migration and employment corridors and previous festival travel patterns can help identify where additional services are required. Return journeys also need attention. While the outbound rush is often visible before a festival, large numbers of passengers may begin their return journey immediately afterwards. Additional services should therefore be planned in both directions.

Add Coaches Where Possible

Attaching additional coaches to existing trains can sometimes provide capacity more quickly than introducing a completely new service. However, this depends on platform length, locomotive capacity, signalling, maintenance arrangements and turnaround times. Where these operational conditions permit, additional coaches can become one part of the festival capacity plan.

Managing Crowds at Railway Stations

The movement of passengers does not end with the availability of tickets. Large crowds can create pressure at station entrances, booking counters, foot overbridges, platforms and circulating areas.

Railway crowd-management guidelines already include measures such as separate entry and exit routes, holding areas, controlled platform access, additional staff, public announcements and coordination between railway security and civil authorities. 

During the busiest periods, stations can also consider clearly marked queues, additional ticket counters, real-time display boards, medical and emergency-response teams and special assistance for children, older passengers and people with disabilities. Platform access may also need to be controlled when passenger density reaches safe capacity.

Supporting Unreserved Passengers

A significant number of festival travellers depend on unreserved services when reserved tickets are unavailable. Additional general coaches and dedicated unreserved festival services could provide more options, but capacity planning must go hand in hand with crowd control. Timed entry, digital crowd alerts, additional ticket counters and controlled platform access can help stations manage passenger numbers more safely during peak periods.

Buses Can Fill the Gaps

Intercity buses can provide another layer of capacity when flights and trains are heavily booked. State transport corporations, private bus operators, railway authorities and local administrations can coordinate additional services connecting railway stations with nearby towns, airports with city centres and major festival destinations with parking areas. This can be particularly useful for destinations where the railway station is located away from residential areas or smaller towns.

The Last-Mile Challenge

Festival congestion often moves from airports and railway stations to city roads. Additional city buses, regulated taxis and auto-rickshaws, temporary traffic diversions, park-and-ride facilities, pedestrian routes and safe waiting areas can help manage this final stage of the journey. Late-night public transport is also important when additional trains and flights arrive outside normal commuting hours.

What the Dussehra Travel Scene May Look Like

Festival travel is unlikely to follow the same pattern across every part of India. Demand will depend on regional holidays, school breaks, family travel, pilgrimage activity and the location of major employment centres.

In northern and central India, Dussehra travel can overlap with preparations for Diwali and the later Chhath travel period. In southern and western India, movement may also be influenced by regional holidays, school schedules, family visits and local temple or cultural celebrations. This makes state-wise and route-wise planning important instead of treating the festive season as one single nationwide travel peak.

Why Fair Fares Matter

Affordable travel is not only a consumer concern. It can directly affect whether students, migrant workers, families and lower-income travellers are able to return home for important festivals.

When airfares rise sharply, passengers who cannot afford flights often shift to trains and buses. If those modes are already operating close to capacity, the pressure can move further onto private buses and highways. The result can include overcrowded trains and buses, higher private transport costs, missed journeys, road congestion and additional financial pressure on families.

A practical festival travel policy, therefore, can focus on choice, transparency and capacity. The objective does not necessarily have to be stopping every fare increase. Instead, passengers need timely information, sufficient transport options and clear pricing, while regulators can monitor exceptional situations where demand is highly concentrated and alternatives are limited.

Towards Better Festival Mobility

India's festive travel demand is predictable. Dussehra, Diwali and Chhath Puja arrive every year, and the movement of passengers follows recognisable patterns. This gives transport authorities, airlines, railways, airports, bus operators and local administrations an opportunity to prepare well in advance.

More flights can provide additional air capacity. Special trains can ease pressure on long-distance routes. Buses can support the last mile and underserved destinations. Better crowd management can make busy stations safer. Transparent fare information can help passengers make informed decisions. The larger requirement is coordination.

India does not need only more flights and trains during the festive season. It needs a coordinated approach that brings together capacity planning, transparent pricing, passenger information and safe crowd management. With preparations beginning before demand reaches its peak, the Dussehra travel period can offer passengers more choices and reduce the pressure that often builds across India's transport network.