Panaji, August 2 (TNN): The extended Independence Day weekend is approaching and airfares have already shot up to fly from the metros into Goa —which has increasingly become a weekend holiday getaway for Indians.

Tickets to fly into the coastal destination are up by 4,000 to 5,000 on the eve of Independence Day, which falls on a Friday this year. Flight charges have gone up similarly on August 17 as it is the day domestic visitors are likely to fly out of Goa with the Monday marking an end to the short vacation.

A flight from Kolkata to Goa will cost a minimum of 11,500 on August 14, as against the 4,700 price at which tickets on the route were available due to monsoon offers.

Delhi to Goa flights, which with the monsoon air ticket sales were available at as low as 3,300, are priced at 7,000 on August 14.

The monsoon fares from Chennai to Goa of 2,300, shoot up suddenly on Independence Day eve to over 7,500 and on the Monday following the holiday.

But the airfares have not skyrocketed still to the extent it did around New Year due to the monsoon season, where airlines are motivating Indians with discounts to take up domestic travel.

Fares on the Mumbai to Goa route too have gone up more than three times from 1,700 during the monsoons to the 6,900 on the Friday before Independence Day.

Travellers from Hyderabad will pay 7,200 and above to fly to Goa on the day, as compared to only 2,400 during the rest of the monsoon season.

The flight prices to holiday in Goa during this extended weekend will remain affordable only for Bangalore residents with tickets available at 4,500 as against 1,500 on any of the other monsoon days.

The tickets prices are hiked by a similar amount on all routes to fly out of Goa on the Monday following the Independence Day weekend on August 17.