<p>Bengaluru: The wave of flight cancellations by India’s largest airline IndiGo recently, which disrupted travel plans for thousands, has pushed many passengers toward readily available alternative transport options, most notably long-haul intercity buses. The shift is most visible on busy routes that typically see heavy air-travel traffic.</p>.<p>“In light of recent disruptions, many travellers have been looking for alternate modes of transport for urgent, last-minute intercity travel,” AbhiBus COO Rohit Sharma told DH.</p>.<p>Online bus-ticketing platforms have recorded a sharp uptick of over 15% in seat bookings between December 1-4 and 5-8. redBus, in particular, is witnessing a 17% rise in bus seats booked. “We are seeing the highest impact on major bus routes that connect large metros, such as Pune-Hyderabad, Mumbai-Hyderabad, and Mumbai-Bengaluru. On over 70 such routes, we are seeing a 30%+ increase in seat bookings,” a redBus spokesperson said.</p>.<p>Routes showing the strongest surge include Hyderabad-Mumbai-Hyderabad, Mumbai-Hyderabad-Mumbai, Chennai-Hyderabad-Chennai, Ahmedabad-Mumbai, Nagpur-Mumbai, Ahmedabad-Pune, and Visakhapatnam-Hyderabad. Journeys beginning or ending in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are also seeing elevated demand. “redBus has also seen a 36% increase in search volume traffic for major metro hub routes,” the spokesperson added.</p>.<p>AbhiBus’ Sharma noted, “During this period, we’ve seen bus bookings increase by 10-15% across major routes. High-demand routes for this month include Pune-Hyderabad, Lucknow-Delhi, Bengaluru-Chennai, Bengaluru-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Mumbai, and Hyderabad-Bengaluru.”</p>.Nitish Kumar allocates portfolios of new depts among ministers, keeps Civil Aviation with himself.<p>Reports also emerged of steep fare hikes on some private buses due to the sudden jump in demand from displaced air travellers. This has required operators to adjust schedules and add more vehicles. redBus clarified that it neither manages operations nor sets fares. “However, we have witnessed around an 18% increase in inventory addition on the redBus platform for the said routes… We are also seeing some surge in response to the increased demand; on average, there is a 25% growth in ASP (Average Selling Price) for these routes,” the spokesperson said.</p>.<p>According to redBus’ latest BusTrack report, India’s intercity bus segment carried 140 million passengers between April and September 2025, raking in gross ticketing value of Rs 13,216 crore, with sleeper bus demand dominating bookings at 51%.</p>.<p>Platforms noted that some growth in bookings aligns with seasonal trends linked to weddings, pilgrimages and holidays. But since the last several days, the spike, especially on metro-connecting routes, has been noticeably sharper.</p>.<p>“In the middle of the high season for travel just prior to the Christmas-New Year break, it is unfortunate that we have a situation where there will be a capacity shortfall on demand resulting in further increase in airfares. This shortfall is hard to be filled by the other airlines in a short span, and we are already seeing signs of passengers switching back to train and bus,” Ixigo Co-Founder and Group CEO Aloke Bajpai said.</p>.<p>Recently, Indian Railways also had deployed 89 special train services to manage the surge caused by winter travel, flight disruptions, and increased demand on key corridors.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: The wave of flight cancellations by India’s largest airline IndiGo recently, which disrupted travel plans for thousands, has pushed many passengers toward readily available alternative transport options, most notably long-haul intercity buses. The shift is most visible on busy routes that typically see heavy air-travel traffic.</p>.<p>“In light of recent disruptions, many travellers have been looking for alternate modes of transport for urgent, last-minute intercity travel,” AbhiBus COO Rohit Sharma told DH.</p>.<p>Online bus-ticketing platforms have recorded a sharp uptick of over 15% in seat bookings between December 1-4 and 5-8. redBus, in particular, is witnessing a 17% rise in bus seats booked. “We are seeing the highest impact on major bus routes that connect large metros, such as Pune-Hyderabad, Mumbai-Hyderabad, and Mumbai-Bengaluru. On over 70 such routes, we are seeing a 30%+ increase in seat bookings,” a redBus spokesperson said.</p>.<p>Routes showing the strongest surge include Hyderabad-Mumbai-Hyderabad, Mumbai-Hyderabad-Mumbai, Chennai-Hyderabad-Chennai, Ahmedabad-Mumbai, Nagpur-Mumbai, Ahmedabad-Pune, and Visakhapatnam-Hyderabad. Journeys beginning or ending in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are also seeing elevated demand. “redBus has also seen a 36% increase in search volume traffic for major metro hub routes,” the spokesperson added.</p>.<p>AbhiBus’ Sharma noted, “During this period, we’ve seen bus bookings increase by 10-15% across major routes. High-demand routes for this month include Pune-Hyderabad, Lucknow-Delhi, Bengaluru-Chennai, Bengaluru-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Mumbai, and Hyderabad-Bengaluru.”</p>.Nitish Kumar allocates portfolios of new depts among ministers, keeps Civil Aviation with himself.<p>Reports also emerged of steep fare hikes on some private buses due to the sudden jump in demand from displaced air travellers. This has required operators to adjust schedules and add more vehicles. redBus clarified that it neither manages operations nor sets fares. “However, we have witnessed around an 18% increase in inventory addition on the redBus platform for the said routes… We are also seeing some surge in response to the increased demand; on average, there is a 25% growth in ASP (Average Selling Price) for these routes,” the spokesperson said.</p>.<p>According to redBus’ latest BusTrack report, India’s intercity bus segment carried 140 million passengers between April and September 2025, raking in gross ticketing value of Rs 13,216 crore, with sleeper bus demand dominating bookings at 51%.</p>.<p>Platforms noted that some growth in bookings aligns with seasonal trends linked to weddings, pilgrimages and holidays. But since the last several days, the spike, especially on metro-connecting routes, has been noticeably sharper.</p>.<p>“In the middle of the high season for travel just prior to the Christmas-New Year break, it is unfortunate that we have a situation where there will be a capacity shortfall on demand resulting in further increase in airfares. This shortfall is hard to be filled by the other airlines in a short span, and we are already seeing signs of passengers switching back to train and bus,” Ixigo Co-Founder and Group CEO Aloke Bajpai said.</p>.<p>Recently, Indian Railways also had deployed 89 special train services to manage the surge caused by winter travel, flight disruptions, and increased demand on key corridors.</p>