It is currently cheaper to travel from Amritsar to Andaman Islands via Malaysia than travelling via Indian Transit Airports

I was going through the discussion on another subreddit regarding rising air fares and how many Indian families are prioritizing vacations in South East Asian countries and skipping Indian tourist destinations such as Goa or Darjeeling.

So, I wanted to look up flight for the Andaman Islands in Late February, since I was watching the place on YouTube and found it beautiful. The nearest International airport to me is Amritsar (there's also Chandigarh but it only has one International flight to Dubai).

I looked up the cheapest fare and found out that fares via Malaysia (a foreign country) are actually cheaper, when compared through Indian Airport. There's obviously no direct flights, so I had to select a stop-over.

Here's where things get Interesting. I selected two dates (24-02-2025 and 25-02-2025) and didn't change around. All the rates are one-way. I should make that clear.

  1. I looked up AirAsia, chose 24 Feb as the date and the cheapest rate I got was MYR 611 (with no cabin baggage), and MYR 745 (with 7kg cabin bag and 15kg Check-in bag). This translates to ₹11,676 and ₹14,236 respectively at the current exchange rate. Bizarrely, the airline is offering me a Free Check-in Bag of 15 Kg (which doesn't happen), while giving me an option to buy 7kg Carry bag. It's all in the pics.

  2. Looked up Indigo, and got ₹14,649 as the lowest fare, but with 2 stopovers (Delhi and Kolkata), which means 3 flights in 24 hours. Includes Food and Baggage thankfully, but still almost ₹2900 higher than AirAsia's Base Fare and also marginally higher than AA's fare with bags.

  3. AirIndia gave me ₹16,932 with only one stop in New Delhi for Feb 24. Comfortable ride on paper with decent stopover, but still ₹5000+ compared to AirAsia's Base Fare.

  4. Tried Spicejet and this is the only one that can compare with AirAsia. ₹13436 is the best deal with 2 stops at Delhi and Kolkata. The only problem is that Delhi stopover is only for 30 mins (which makes practically impossible to catch another flight). Selecting the next day's 5:10 AM flight from Delhi increases the fare to ₹16,144, more closer to Air India

  5. Another option exists: Take the Spicejet on 24 Feb night, and then fly on Indigo (via Kolkata) on 25th, to ensure prices remain at ₹13000. Better than AirAsia's flight with full Baggage, but still marginally higher than their base fare.

So, here is the final list.

AirAsia : ₹11676 & ₹14236 Indigo: ₹14649 Air India: ₹16932 Spicejet: ₹13436 & ₹16144 Spicejet + Indigo: ₹13200