Travelling by air to Srinagar from Jammu or Delhi around this time will literally burn a hole in the pocket of a flier, especially if the passenger is a student or a person from modest economic backgrounds. Reason, the recent closure of Srinagar-Jammu highway coupled with a huge rush of passengers on Delhi-Srinagar sector has led to sky rocketing of airfares.
Several people planning to travel from Jammu or Delhi to Srinagar said the airlines were making an “open loot”.
A cursory look at various travel portals indicates that per passenger airfare between Delhi to Srinagar for this weekend is touching Rs 30,000, which is almost three times the usual fare on this sector.
Bilal Ahmad Gagloo, a medical supplier, who has been stranded in Jammu said every travel portal shows fares on Jammu-Srinagar sector almost touching Rs 14,000 for this weekend. Gagloo said government must start special flights in order to address the issue of huge rush of passengers.
“The airfares are much more than they were during the recent pre-snowfall period. The government should have facilitated special additional flights in order to cater to the huge rush from Jammu and Delhi for Srinagar,” Gagloo suggested.
Tanveer Wani, who runs an educational consultation centre had to opt for train journey between Delhi and Jammu in order to avoid paying “exorbitant” airfares to reach back home.
Wani said, “There are natural calamities in every state but they overcome them by having contingent plans. But with us that is not the case.
“Whenever the highway is closed for traffic, airfares increase sharply. Many of our students doing professional courses abroad are travelling back home on vacations. For them the airfare from Kazakhstan to Delhi is much lesser than what they have to pay on Delhi-Srinagar sector,” Wani said.
Tourism stakeholders who have been hoping for a revival in inflow of tourists to the state also say that high airfares play a spoilsport.
Secretary General, Travel Agents Society of Kashmir, Athar Yameen said they had been receiving a lot of travel inquiries after the recent snowfall but added that high airfares to Srinagar discourage prospective tourists.
Meanwhile, an executive of a private airline said the airfares are “dynamic” which keep on changing as per demand and supply.
He said the airfares are controlled by Central Reservation Control (CRC) which is usually based at the place where the airline is headquartered.
“We have no control over these fares as they keep on changing every now and then especially during the peak season when the highway is closed and weather uncertain,” the executive said.
To mention, a delegation of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry met Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha earlier this month to discuss various aviation issues including rising airfares to Srinagar.
“The issue of exorbitant airfares which results in not only exorbitant rates to tourists but also affects the students and poor medical patients was discussed with the minister,” said Javed Tenga, president, KCCI.
Interestingly recently, Junaid Azam Mattu, youth leader of National Conference tweeted to Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha – “Fare from Delhi to Srinagar more expensive than round-trip tickets to Dubai from Delhi. I thought @jayantsinha said it’s cheaper to fly than to take an auto rickshaw? Airlines can’t fleece people because we had two inches of snow in the Valley. Highway robbery as usual.”
Mattu’s tweet was in reference to Sinha’s statement that “air-travel in India is cheaper than auto rickshaw fares” made recently.