Poor air link setback for Kullu tourism industry

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, December 17

Poor air connectivity is a setback for the tourism industry of Kullu and Manali. At present, only Alliance Air, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, operates flight to the Bhuntar airport. The airlines operates single flight between Delhi and Bhuntar.

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For the past many years, the hoteliers of Kullu and Manali have been urging the state and Union governments to increase the number of flights from Chandigarh and Delhi to attract high-end tourists but to no avail. Because of shorter runway, only a 70-seater ATR-72 aircraft operates and is allowed to carry only around 20 passengers from Kullu. The airline generally charges over Rs 22,000 for a Kullu-Delhi ticket and Rs 20,000 for Kullu-Chandigarh travel.

Single flight between Kullu, Delhi

• Due to the short runway, only a 70-seater aircraft operates and is allowed to carry only around 20 passengers from Kullu.
• The airline charges over Rs22,000 for a Kullu-Delhi ticket and over Rs20,000 for Kullu-Chandigarh travel.
• Hoteliers say better road and air connectivity a must to give a fillip to the tourism industry.

Nakul Khullar, MD of a resort in Manali, says, “The expansion of the runway at the Bhuntar airport and increasing the number of flights are the two major demands of hoteliers here. We are demanding that a Detailed Project Report be prepared for widening of the left-bank road between Kullu and Manali.”

Mukesh Thakur, president of Hoteliers Association, Manali, says, “Better road and air connectivity is a must to give a fillip to tourism here. Poor condition of the Chandigarh-Manali highway is a big blow to the industry. Due to the ongoing work on the Kiratpur-Manali road widening project, the condition of the highway is pathetic. There is need to complete the project at the earliest to enable a hassle-free travel and save the troubled industry of Kullu and Manali.”

“We urge the state and the Union government to take steps to increase the frequency of flights from Delhi and Chandigarh to attract larger number of tourists. The airfare to Kullu is quite high, which is a big deterrent to those intending to visit this area,” he adds.

“We urge Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to take up the matter of the Bhuntar airport extension with the Union Government to ensure regular flights and better flight frequency at the Bhuntar airport to give a push to the tourism industry,” says Mukesh.

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