JOIN USFlight fares to Kerala up by 400%
Flight fares to Kerala from Bengaluru skyrocketed by over 400% on Saturday, as thousands of passengers frantically searched for commute options to the rain-ravaged state. Most trains and buses from both the Karnataka and Kerala State Road Transport Corporations remained suspended.
Many grand plans for the extended holidays had to be shelved, as students, traders, and other regular travellers were stranded in the city. The cancellation of four-night trains on Friday and Saturday, including the Banaswadi–Kochuveli, Bengaluru–Kanyakumari and Yeshwantpur–Kannur Express only aggravated the commute crisis.
Sunday flight fares to Kozhikode hovered around Rs 11,500 to Rs 12,000, soaring from the regular fare of about Rs 2,200. Although the Kochi airport declared that it would reopen on Sunday afternoon, the flight fares from Bengaluru remained unaffordably expensive.
A Sunday night AirAsia flight from the city to Kochi had a ticket price of Rs 10,485, way beyond the regular fare of about Rs 2,400.
As most road and rail options to Kannur were closed, flight fares to the newly opened international airport there also soared due to the rising demand.
Holiday plans go caput
Flights to Thiruvananthapuram were also extremely pricey, with fares in the range of Rs 10,500 to Rs 14,500.
The cancellation of two-night trains to the Kerala capital forced many to explore this option. Among them were many who wanted to celebrate Bakrid with their families on Monday.
Accessing Kerala’s northern, Malabar region by road turned virtually impossible as both the state transport corporations cancelled trips via Mysuru and Wayanad. Massive landslides in the Wayanad region has severely affected many roads in the region. Private bus services were also curtailed.
However, a Saturday morning train from Bengaluru to Ernakulam offered some relief to passengers. A few South Kerala-bound buses were diverted via Salem, Coimbatore, Palakkad and beyond.
On Friday and Saturday, about 15 Kochi-bound flights were stranded at the Kempegowda International Airport as the Kochi aerodrome remained shut. Nine flights were scheduled for departure from KIA. Although two took off, they returned an hour later.