Tourism players send SOS to Centre as airfares rise 50% ahead of  Winter Games — The Kashmir Monitor

 Srinagar, Feb 5:  Ahead Khelo India Winter Games, rising airfares are giving sleepless nights to travel operators.

 The airfare to Srinagar for the last week has increased by more than 50 percent. A cursory look at the airfare chart by airline companies and portals suggests that the airfare to Srinagar from all the stations has hiked between 50 to 70 percent.

From New Delhi to Srinagar, the airfare has hiked by more than 50 percent. An air ticket from New Delhi to Srinagar which usually costs Rs 5000-5500 per passenger sells between Rs 9000 and 12000.

From Mumbai, an air ticket to Srinagar sells at Rs 14000 -16000 per passenger. A return ticket to the destination too has hiked by more than 20 percent.

An air ticket to Srinagar from Kolkata also sells at Rs 12000 to 14000 per passenger. Notably, Kolkata contributes to the tourist flow to Kashmir during all the seasons.

Tourism players believe that such a measure by airline companies will lead to the diversion of tourists to cheaper destinations.

“This has become one of the biggest concerns for the tourism sector. Tourists don’t have other alternatives since weather impacts the surface traffic during winter. We fear that tourists may get diverted to other cheaper places including some of the foreign destinations, which have become relatively cheaper than Kashmir, ” Ashfaq Ahmad Dug, former Travel Agents Association of Kashmir president.

He said the airfare is getting costlier even though several aircraft have been added to Srinagar.

“A lot of domestic destinations have already suffered after a hike in airfare which brought up the cost of the tour package. It is high time for the government to regulate the airfare to ensure sustained tourism in Kashmir,” Dug said.

An official from an airline company told The Kashmir Monitor that the demand for Kashmir has led to a surge in airfare.

“The flow of visitors to Kashmir is very high during winters. More than 70 aircraft operate at the airport. Due to the high demand and limited supply, airfares from Delhi to Srinagar and Mumbai to Srinagar have surged significantly,” he said.

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}