Delhi-Dharamsala air travel gets dearer

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, February 23

The spring teachings of the Dalai Lama from February 20 to 24 have brought hordes of tourists to Dharamsala in the past few days. However, the rise in footfall has led to a steep hike in the airfare.

Kangra resident Yogesh, who wanted to fly to Delhi yesterday, said the airfare of both Air India and SpiceJet that operated flights between Delhi and Dharamsala was between Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000 for one way.

Sanjeev Gandhi, general secretary of the Upper Dharamsala Hoteliers Association, said it was surprising that the airfare to Dharamsala was so high that too in a lean month like February.

In case, the airfare was not reduced, it could hit tourism in the area. He said most tourists were now taking flights to Chandigarh and Amritsar and coming to Dharamsala by road. The airfare from Delhi to Amritsar ranged between Rs 6,000 and Rs 7,000. However, the airfare to Dharamsala was unreasonably high, he said.

Deepak, a travel agent, said in the lean tourist season, the airfare from Dharamsala to Delhi ranged between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000 for one way. "However, during the peak season, the companies jack up the rates to make unreasonable profits. It goes up to Rs 22,000 for one way trip from Delhi to Dharamsala. Travelling to international destinations like Singapore, Thailand and Dubai is cheaper," he said.

MP Anurag Thakur said the Gaggal airport in Kangra district was the only airport in Himachal that could be expanded. The Union Government had asked the state government to acquire land for its expansion. However, the previous Congress government had expressed its inability to acquire the land due to which the project could not be started, he said.

Anurag said the airfare for Dharamsala remained high as bigger planes could not land here. "Only a

70-seater plane can land here due to which the airfare remain high," he said.

The state government had written to the Government of India that flights to Himachal should be subsidised as was being done in Jammu and Kashmir and Northeastern states. However, to date the demand has not been accepted.