<p>Srinagar: Air travel to Kashmir, typically cost-prohibitive during the peak tourist season, has become unexpectedly affordable following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which left 25 tourists and a local person dead.</p><p> The attack has triggered a mass cancellation of bookings—estimated at nearly 90 per cent—causing airfares to the Valley to plummet.</p><p>One-way flight tickets from Delhi to Srinagar, which just weeks ago were priced upwards of ₹13,000, are now available for as low as ₹4,000 to ₹4,800. Even flights from Mumbai, which had peaked at an astonishing ₹25,000, are currently selling for under ₹6,000.</p><p>Tour operators and travel agents say the fall in prices reflects the steep decline in demand following the deadly attack, which has rattled the confidence of domestic travellers at the start of the peak summer tourism season.</p>.A month on, Pahalgam attack perpetrators remain at large.<p>This is the lowest I’ve seen in years during the spring season, which is usually the peak travel time,” said a Srinagar-based travel operator. “The demand has taken a serious hit after the Pahalgam incident. Hotels are reporting cancellations, and packages are being deferred or dropped altogether.”</p><p>Before the attack, Kashmir’s tourism sector was witnessing a record influx of visitors, with hotels in Pahalgam, Gulmarg, and Srinagar booked weeks in advance and airfare climbing accordingly. The sudden fall in prices has underscored the fragile link between Kashmir’s tourism-dependent economy and security-related disruptions.</p><p>Industry insiders warn that if the current trend continues, it could have devastating economic consequences for the region’s already beleaguered hospitality sector. “We were expecting a bumper season this year,” said a hotelier in Pahalgam. “Now it feels like 2016 all over again.”</p><p>Airfare trends have long mirrored the security situation in Kashmir, but the scale of the current drop is being seen as unprecedented. Analysts say the erratic nature of these fluctuations reveals a deep vulnerability in the way Kashmir’s economy hinges on peace and perception.</p><p>“Tourism here is a fragile lifeline,” said a senior official in the tourism department. “It takes years to build confidence and just one incident to undo it all.”</p><p>While airfares may tempt some travellers back to the Valley, it remains to be seen whether confidence can be quickly restored. For now, Kashmir’s tourism sector is bracing for a summer season that may look very different from the one it had hoped for.</p>
<p>Srinagar: Air travel to Kashmir, typically cost-prohibitive during the peak tourist season, has become unexpectedly affordable following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which left 25 tourists and a local person dead.</p><p> The attack has triggered a mass cancellation of bookings—estimated at nearly 90 per cent—causing airfares to the Valley to plummet.</p><p>One-way flight tickets from Delhi to Srinagar, which just weeks ago were priced upwards of ₹13,000, are now available for as low as ₹4,000 to ₹4,800. Even flights from Mumbai, which had peaked at an astonishing ₹25,000, are currently selling for under ₹6,000.</p><p>Tour operators and travel agents say the fall in prices reflects the steep decline in demand following the deadly attack, which has rattled the confidence of domestic travellers at the start of the peak summer tourism season.</p>.A month on, Pahalgam attack perpetrators remain at large.<p>This is the lowest I’ve seen in years during the spring season, which is usually the peak travel time,” said a Srinagar-based travel operator. “The demand has taken a serious hit after the Pahalgam incident. Hotels are reporting cancellations, and packages are being deferred or dropped altogether.”</p><p>Before the attack, Kashmir’s tourism sector was witnessing a record influx of visitors, with hotels in Pahalgam, Gulmarg, and Srinagar booked weeks in advance and airfare climbing accordingly. The sudden fall in prices has underscored the fragile link between Kashmir’s tourism-dependent economy and security-related disruptions.</p><p>Industry insiders warn that if the current trend continues, it could have devastating economic consequences for the region’s already beleaguered hospitality sector. “We were expecting a bumper season this year,” said a hotelier in Pahalgam. “Now it feels like 2016 all over again.”</p><p>Airfare trends have long mirrored the security situation in Kashmir, but the scale of the current drop is being seen as unprecedented. Analysts say the erratic nature of these fluctuations reveals a deep vulnerability in the way Kashmir’s economy hinges on peace and perception.</p><p>“Tourism here is a fragile lifeline,” said a senior official in the tourism department. “It takes years to build confidence and just one incident to undo it all.”</p><p>While airfares may tempt some travellers back to the Valley, it remains to be seen whether confidence can be quickly restored. For now, Kashmir’s tourism sector is bracing for a summer season that may look very different from the one it had hoped for.</p>