9-day holiday in UAE? Airfares set to jump by Dh1,200 to popular destinations
If you’re looking to travel this coming holiday season in December, then now is the best time to book your flights. Industry experts expect airfares to surge as much as 50 percent between now and the holidays.
“Travellers booking now can save between 30 per cent and 40 per cent on average, versus waiting until late November. For example, a well-tread route such as Dubai to London is around Dh2,800 today and could rise to Dh3,800-Dh4,200 by late November.
“There is a surge in prices closer to December, the nearer we approach, the higher will be the spike in prices so always a word of advice to customers is that they should book as early as possible for their holiday travel,” Raheesh Babu – COO, musafir. com, said.
At the moment, return fares from Dubai on majors routes are competitively priced. “But on popular dates like Dec. 20-28, fares generally go up by 30 to 50 per cent depending on the destination. This indicates a combination of greater demand, few available seats and rising airline prices during the holiday season,” Babu noted.
How to get a 9-day holiday?
To round off the 2025 public holidays for UAE residents, it’s probable that they will have a mixed two days off between Tuesday, December 2 and Wednesday, December 3 Eid Al Etihad. If you hope to make the break a bit longer, turn it into a week-long break and request annual leave for Monday, December 1 Thursday, December 4 & Friday, December 5. Both weekends being counted, residents can enjoy a 9-day break to close the year.
Airfares are highest in December when a huge volume of UAE residents go on vacations and fly to their home countries for holidays and going to see family and friends during the Eid Al Etihad holiday, Christmas, New Year break.
In the UAE, airlines such as Emirates and Etihad Airways, as well as Dubai International Airport (DXB) are issuing travel advisories for peak seasons to cater a high demand during December.
When to book
COO of Musafir said: "The best booking window for international travel is usually 6 to 8 weeks before the date of departure, especially when it comes to holiday seasons during which demand spikes and competitive fares run out fast." “We are already seeing strong interest and higher fares for travel in December. Booking now will secure better pricing, more availability and most of all, a better value before holiday window pressures rates are higher,” he said.
Sameer Bagul, Chief Business Officer at Cleartrip Arabia also concurred: “We always push a lot to our customers to book travel beforehand. Actually, we are even doing our own promotions to encourage people to book early.
“If you book now, it would be at least 25 to 30 per cent cheaper. It’s much less expensive,” he said in an interview.
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