06-07-2025
Bus bookings for monsoon, festive travel surge as travellers hesitate to take flights
Pune: Travel operators are witnessing a surge in bus bookings owing to the flexibility and reliability of transport, the convenience of access to hill stations, and cost-effectiveness.
The hesitation to book flights after the recent crash has also fuelled demand for bus travel.
Devenshi Saluja, a resident of Baner, planned a last-minute bus trip to Goa and Varkala. "There have been many turbulence-related incidents in flight travel. I have an overall hesitation to fly following the recent air accident, as well. My bus journey was comfortable, and bookings were also easily available," she said.
"We usually take a flight but this time, we have booked a bus for our journey to Coimbatore.
We plan to visit nearby hill stations which turn lush green during the monsoon," said Nirav Kulkarni, a resident of Kothrud.
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While refusing to attribute the reason behind the surge in bus bookings to the hesitation to take flights, Rohit Sharma, COO of AbhiBus, said, "We're seeing a clear uptick in bus bookings to popular monsoon destinations. Places like Bekal are witnessing a 100% year-on-year surge. Destinations such as Ooty, Coimbatore and Wayanad are also seeing strong interest, with an average 30% year-on-year uptick in bus bookings.
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Rikant Pittie, co-founder and CEO of EaseMyTrip, said they have seen a 10–12% increase in intercity bus travel demand in the last month alone. "One reason might be the fear of air travel because of turbulence and safety incidents, especially during monsoons. Also, we have observed that road travel for shorter distances has become the preferred mode, particularly for regional and religious travel in this season," he said.
Travel operators said passengers are preferring intercity sleeper and AC luxury buses.
Balasaheb Khedekar, president of the Pune Luxury Bus Association, said there has been an increase in demand for long-distance buses. "Sleeper coaches are running at 80% occupancy to places like Bengaluru,Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. Part of it is seasonal rush, and maybe a 5-10% increase in demand is because of the hesitation for air travel," he said.
Operators are also expecting robust demand for bus bookings during the upcoming festive season. The second half of the calendar year is traditionally a peak season for bus travel, due to festivals and extended holidays.
"We expect a 30-35% increase in demand for bus travel from Aug to Dec," a bus operator said on the condition of anonymity.
