Skyrocketing airfares to Kashmir worry tourism players

Despite recent recommendations of a parliamentary panel to the civil aviation ministry to ensure that predatory pricing mechanism is not adopted by the airlines, airfares to Kashmir have skyrocketed in recent days with New Delhi to Srinagar travel costing around Rs 15,000.

A cursory look at the airfare chart by portals including 'yatra.com' and 'EaseMyTrip' shows that the fare from New Delhi to Srinagar has gone up to Rs 15,000 hich was just Rs 5000-5500 two weeks ago.

The return ticket from Srinagar to Delhi has also witnessed a hike and sells at Rs 7500-8500. As there is a huge rush of tourists, particularly from Maharashtra and Gujarat, Kashmir is witnessing a tourism boom.

However, tourism stakeholders fear that skyrocketing airfares may play a spoilsport. According to Manzoor Ahmad Pakhtoon, chairman Kashmir Houseboat Owners’ Association, the higher airfares disturbs tour packages and impacts the entire hospitality sector.

“We have put a demand of regulating airfare and tariff of the hospitality sector in general here to the government earlier,” he said and urged the government to put a cap on airfare.

Pakhtoon said that a package to Southeast Asia was cheaper than Kashmir because of the airfare hike.

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On an average 12,500 passengers travel to and fro in 68 flights at Srinagar airport daily these days which is 3000 more compared to winter months – January and February –when Kashmir received 2.5 lakh tourists.

A senior official of the Tourism department said one of the reasons for the airfare hike was the huge tourist rush to Kashmir these days. “The issue has been deliberated and more flights will be added to cater to the rush of tourists in coming weeks which may stabilize airfares,” he said.

The sky rocketing airfares is not only causing a great worry to tourists, but to students and desperate patients who have to travel outside the valley.

“I had to spend atleast Rs 70 thousand on air travel last week as my mother was seriously ill and had to be taken to Delhi. With two attendants and a patient travelling to and fro was a huge burden. The government needs to intervene and cap the airfares,” said Tariq Ahmad, a businessman.

Recently a parliamentary panel asked the government to maintain perfect balance between the commercial interest of the private airlines and the interest of the passengers so as to enable the private airlines to grow and at the same time the interest of passengers should also be kept in mind, so that they are not fleeced in the garb of commercialization.