India’s travel tech and online ticketing agent startups and listed giants such as MakeMyTrip, ixigo, Easemytrip, Cleartrip and others expect a hit on their revenues and a slowdown in travel bookings amid heightened tensions on the India-Pakistan line of control and border in the past two weeks.

Even though a ceasefire is now in place between India and Pakistan, online travel majors such as ixigo, MakeMyTrip (MMT), Cleartrip, Easemytrip (EMT), Goibibo, Yatra have all seen challenges such as higher cancellations, demands for refunds and clarity on travel advisory from anxious consumers.

As tensions between India and Pakistan continue to escalate, the geopolitical fallout has brought in airspace restrictions and heightened security to the travel and tourism industry, especially given the fact that tourists were targetted in the Pahalgam terror attack.

A source within one of the OTAs told Inc42 on condition of anonymity that flight searches dropped by 23% week-on-week for travel between May 5 and 8, compared to the period from April 20 to May 2. “Just on May 8, around 360 flights were impacted, accounting for nearly 8% of total daily departures under normal conditions,” the person added.

The drop in search volume reflects growing traveller hesitation, and OTAs are already bracing for further declines if the situation persists.

India-Pakistan Clashes Disrupt Travel Revenue

Since the launch of Operation Sindoor by India to target terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, over 300 flights have been cancelled, and at least 25 airports in northern and western India were temporarily closed, completing disrupting movement and stranding travellers in many cases.

Among the impacted locations were cities such as Srinagar, Leh, Jammu, Amritsar, Pathankot, Chandigarh, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Shimla, Dharamshala,........

© Inc42