Residents of Kabul expressed concerns over the high prices of airplane tickets, saying that the prices have almost doubled.

They said that the price of tickets for Kabul- Dubai and Kabul-Istanbul flights have significantly increased.

“The price of the tickets has increased. We cannot purchase the one-way tickets,” said a resident of Kabul.

“I ask the travel airlines, if possible, to reduce the prices of the ticket,” said Ahmad Naveed, a resident of Kabul.

The Ministry of Transportation and Civil Aviation said that the prices of the tickets have increased due to a surge in the price of oil worldwide.

“We cannot control the international prices because it is not the issue within only one country. The ticket prices have surged at an international level as well. For example, previously, if you wanted to buy a ticket from Dubai to the US, it would cost around $800 but now it has increased to $2,000,” said Ghulam Jailani Wafa, deputy Minister of Transportation and Civil Aviation.

This comes as some travel agencies said that there has been a significant drop in international flights which has affected business.

“The prices have increased by 60 percent compared to before, we used to have a lot of flights to abroad,” said Khpolwak, head of a travel agency.

“Previously, our office would issue more than 50 tickets each day but now it has dropped to one, two or five tickets,” said Haseeb, head a travel agency.

After the fall of the former government, many major airlines including Fly Dubai and Turkish airlines have stopped flights to Afghanistan.