The distinction between low-cost carriers and full-service airlines in the country has blurred to near invisibility. Strained by exigencies, budget carriers have abandoned offering tickets as cheap as those available a few years ago and raised the minimum airfare, even in non-peak season, to Rs 4,000-5,000. Such has been the transformation in tariffs, in fact, that often fares of full-service airlines are equivalent or less.

A review of airfares in the coming weeks shows that the old stock ticket of Rs 3,000 is extinct. Till last year, a one-way trip on a low-cost carrier (LCC) from Mumbai to Goa in September cost about Rs 2,800.

This year, the minimum tariff is Rs 3,900. A ticket on the same sector in October, when peak travel season begins, is no less than Rs 9,000.

Similarly, a flyer on a round trip from Mumbai to Delhi in the last week of September will have to spend anywhere between Rs 10,000 and 15,000; last year, the airfare for the trip was around Rs 7,000-8,000.

Tour operators highlight that in some instances the lowest fares are available on full-service airlines, not on budget carriers.

On the weekend before Diwali, for instance, fares on some GoAir and Indigo flights from Mumbai to Delhi are as high as Rs 16,000, whereas on Air India it is Rs 7,000. On the same weekend, a seat on a JetKonnect flight from Mumbai to Kolkata is priced at Rs 13,000, while on a Jet Airways flight it is Rs 9,000.

“Till last year, one could book a return trip from Mumbai to Jaipur for Rs 6,500. Now, even during non-peak season, a return trip would cost at least Rs 8,000,” said Rajesh Rateria, managing director of Cirrus Travels. “The highest limit for tickets to Delhi can go up to Rs 40,000.”

Explaining the tariff rise, Rateria said that due to a robust demand all year airlines, including LCCs, have stopped releasing “lower bucket fares”.

“Carriers only release mid-level and high fares. They allow lowest fares at the last moment, when seats are going empty,” he said.Other experts maintained there are more reasons for the climbing tariffs of no-frills airlines.