Delhi flights: Airlines have a field day

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 26

Following the cancellation of trains and buses from the city for Delhi, the fare of domestic flights has gone up four times the normal fare. There are almost 12 domestic flights to Delhi from the city airport.

A flight to Delhi, which normally varies between Rs 2,500 and Rs 4,000, now costs from Rs 12,000 to Rs 27,000.

Abhishek, a trip adviser from Holiday Dreamer, said, “Generally, a Delhi flight costs Rs 2,500 to Rs 4,000. Now, with low availability of seats, the fare being charged by various airlines is about Rs 25,000. Such a situation had arose last year during Jat agitation.”

Due to high fare, a large number of tourists are stuck in the city. They are waiting for the restoration of rail and road traffic. “As the CBI court had announced the date of verdict a week before, traders had scheduled their meetings accordingly. But most of the tourists were unaware. Now, they have only one option to get expensive air tickets to reach Delhi,” said Ravi, another tour planner.

“I have to reach Delhi tomorrow for some work but trains and buses have been cancelled. If I cancel my trip, it will result in a huge loss for me. I planned to go by air but the fare is quite high,” said Rajiv Kohsla, a local trader.

Meanwhile, the airport authorities claimed that they have all infrastructure to run additional flights if required. “If airlines want to add additional flights, we are ready,” said Manoj Chand Sukhiya, Director, Shri Guru Ramdas Jee International Airport Authority.