UAE holiday dilemma: Travel in October or wait for December?

FAMILIES WEIGH SHORTER GETAWAYS NOW AGAINST LONGER WINTER HOLIDAYS

- BY DHANUSHA GOKULAN

As the Ministry of Education’s midterm school holiday approaches (October 13 to 19), travel agents and industry watchers are seeing early signs of strong demand — especially along UAE-Europe, Dubai-UK, and UAE-CIS nation routes — driving sharp airfare hikes.

However, questions remain: are families booking now, or are they waiting for the December break?

“We are seeing moderate interest [among families] for the midterm break, especially for India-UAE travel [inbound] for Diwali. Still, it is nowhere near the demand we typically see for longer holidays,” said Rashid Abbas, Manging Director of Arooha Travels.

“Many families are holding back, especially when they realise December is just around the corner,” he added.

“However, combined with the weekend, the midterm break is nine days long. That is sufficient for a quick trip away to nearby CIS nations [former Soviet republics] and some Eastern European destinations. Some families are opting to go now,” Abbas added.

Surge in airfares

However, airfares to several destinations are already 30 to 40 per cent higher than shoulder rates, driven by the compressed booking window and limited availability on key routes.

For example, return Economy fares to Edinburgh are priced at Dh4,765 for travel during the December break.

Travelling to London will set you back Dh4,395 (October 13-19) and fares to Yerevan, Armenia, are priced at Dh2,417. The super-popular Dubai—Tbilisi (Georgia) route is relatively affordable at Dh1,525.

Cheaper alternatives