Air fares on the country’s various domestic routes have increased two to three times amid an influx of passengers trying to bypass a nationwide transport strike seen since Friday.

Officials from various airlines said airfares generally remain high during the weekends to accommodate the additions of vacationers.

But the number of air passengers rose 10% to 15% on various routes due to the transport strike, leading to higher air fares, they said.

“I usually pay Tk 3,300 to 3,500 to fly the Chattogram-Dhaka route almost every weekend. But this time the airfare on that route has gone from Tk 8,000 to Tk 9,000,” an official said. at the Daily Star.

“Finally, I managed to come to Dhaka today (yesterday) by renting a private car,” he said on condition of anonymity.

The government on Wednesday raised the price of diesel and kerosene by 23 percent or Tk 15 per liter.

Transport associations, mainly owners of commercial vehicles, imposed the indefinite strike from Friday morning, causing untold suffering to the public and largely halting business operations.

Bus owners demanded an increase in passenger fares to cope with rising fuel prices, while commercial vehicle owners demanded that the government’s decision to increase prices be overturned.

Several thousand holidaymakers remained stranded in various tourist spots, including Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban and Khagrachhari, due to the transport strike.

Air fares are determined by a strategy called airline revenue management, according to CNBC.

Decisions are made in real time by an algorithm that adjusts fares using information such as past bookings, remaining capacity, average demand for certain routes and the likelihood of selling more seats later, he says. .

Kamrul Islam, general manager of public relations at US-Bangla Airlines, said the issue was not as if the airlines were charging additional passengers.

There are basically 10 bands of airline tickets, from lowest to highest, all year round. As demand increases, the low air fare brackets begin to run out, leaving slabs of high air fares for those who come later.

He also said that they are now operating flights on different routes at 95% of their capacity, up from 80% in the recent past.

Mesbah Ul Islam, head of sales and marketing at Novoair, said demand for tickets has increased due to the transport strike.

“When the tickets for the low-priced tiles run out, the price of the tickets for the high-priced tiles will naturally increase. It is the practice of setting airfares,” he said.

He also said they are now operating flights at near full capacity when they were at 90% in the recent past.