Airfares to Ayodhya have soared and tickets to the temple town now cost more than international fares as tourists flock to the city for the opening of the Ram temple on January 22.

A one-way flight direct flight on IndiGo from Mumbai, to the newly opened Maharishi Valmiki International Airport, Ayodhyadham, on January 19, will set back the passenger by Rupees 20,700.

In contrast, a direct Air India Mumbai-Singapore flight for the same day is priced at Rupees 10,987; a direct flight to Bangkok from Mumbai costs Rupees 13,800.

Moreover, as Ayodhya has less than 1,500 operational hotel rooms, room rates have jumped by 4-5 times. The city does not have any branded five-star property but most premium hotel properties are sold out on days just ahead of January 22.

Rajeev Kale, president and country head, Thomas Cook (India), told FE spiritual tourism is witnessing a definitive surge as more Indians are keen to begin the New Year on an auspicious note. 'We are seeing a significant uptick in demand of over 120% versus pre-pandemic for the segment,' Kale said, as reported by FinancialExpress.

As the inauguration of the Ram temple draws nearer, data collated by Thomas Cook indicates an over 300% increase in searches for Ayodhya in December compared with October. The customer base reflects diversity and ranges from families, businessmen, youth and couples, the travel company stated.

Visitors taking an Indigo flight from Ahmedabad to Ayodhya will need to fork out Rupees 20,000. The expensive fares can be attributed to the limited options for flyers so, far only IndiGo and Air India Express have announced flights to Ayodhya.

Gaurav Patwari, vice president - air category, Cleartrip confirmed there has been a six-fold increase in searches for Ayodhya airport compared to first half of December.

Flights from Bengaluru and Chennai to Ayodhya are expected to commence in a few days but there are no direct flights between these destinations on days as per the flight plans of the airlines.

The demand for hotel rooms in Ayodhya is estimated at around Rupees 30,000. Currently, only five branded hotels are under construction in the city, according to estimates shared by JLL.