As Amarnath yatris flee Kashmir in panic, Aviation ministry tells airlines to control surging airfares
As airfares on Srinagar route soar, the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Saturday advised airlines to keep a check on airfares as Amarnath pilgrims and tourists prepared to leave the Kashmir Valley after the Jammu and Kashmir administration asked them to curtail their stay due to security threats.
As airfares on Srinagar route soar, the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Saturday advised airlines to keep a check on airfares as Amarnath pilgrims and tourists prepared to leave the Kashmir Valley after the Jammu and Kashmir administration asked them to curtail their stay due to security threats.
Average airfares on Srinagar route have increased by 20-25 per cent on Saturday, soon after state administration issued terror threat alert and curtailed the Amarnath Yatra. The J&K authorities on Friday issued an advisory asking pilgrims and tourists to leave the valley "as soon as possible".
According to Airports Authority of India, at least 6126 passengers reported at Srinagar Airport on Saturday for travelling out of the valley. Out of this, 5829 passengers travelled by 32 scheduled flights. Remaining 387 passengers accommodated in 4 IAF Aircraft and flown to destinations like Jammu, Pathankot and Hindon.
The AAI also said all passengers were flown out of the Valley in a planned and systematic manner. All passengers have flown out of the valley in a systematic manner. It was conducted smoothly by AAI officials in coordination with IAF, J&K Police, CRPF, BSF,airlines&state authorities.
Accordingly, month-on-month figures show an average increase of 20-25 per cent increase in fares. According to reports, since Friday, the prices have also increased for spot bookings. Where the one-way Srinagar-Delhi flight costs between Rs 3,000-5,000, has shot up to Rs 37,915 for Vistara Airlines on Saturday 12.40 p.m. Srinagar to Delhi flight via Jammu on goibibo.com, says IANS report
Meanwhile, on other booking sites such as Cleartrip, Yatra, MakeMyTrip Srinagar-Delhi flights for August 3 are priced between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000.
"Average airfares for flights to and from Srinagar have also increased by 20-25 per cent," Rajnish Kumar, Co-founder, ixigo. "We anticipate the current unrest will lead to a further decrease in travel bookings over the coming weeks," he added.
"Airfares from Srinagar have gone up due to the sudden rush of tourists to cut short their plans and get out of Srinagar," Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C), Yatra.com told IANS.
According to sources the flights fare on the Srinagar route have risen despite the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) verbally communicating to airlines to be ready for additional flight deployment in the wake of the state advisory.
While airlines contend there is no shortage of flight, scheduled flights are getting completely full in absence of additional deployment. The pressure on flights has also pushed up the prices. So far, no directive has been given to the airlines to keep the prices under check.
(With IANS input)
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