Kumbh Roundtrip Airfares Above Rs 50,000, Raghav Chadha Raises Concerns: 'Festival Turned Into...'
Raghav Chadha said that flight companies have turned the Maha Kumbh festival into money-making business and added that the tickets, which used to cost around Rs 5,000, are now available for Rs 50,000.
Ahead of the Mauni Amavasya 'snan' at Maha Kumbh on January 29, airline tickets to and from Prayagraj have surged to new heights, raising concerns over fare monitoring, transparency and regulation mechanism. The return airfare between Delhi and Prayagraj has risen four-fold to over Rs 50,000.
Amid the outrage and concerns over the aggressive pricing, Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha on Tuesday raised the issue of flight ticket prices and urged the government to intervene.
Raghav Chadha said that flight companies have turned the Maha Kumbh festival into money-making business and added that the tickets, which used to cost around Rs 5,000, are now available for Rs 50,000.
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"When the Maha Kumbh is being organised in Prayagraj after 144 years, millions of people from India and abroad are wanting to go to Maha Kumbh to offer their prayers. But, it is shocking that the festival of spirituality and purity has been converted into an arbitrary money-making business by the airlines," Chadha said in a video message.
The prices of Air-Tickets to Prayagraj have soared to unusually high levels compared to ordinary days. On behalf of all the devotees who wish to undertake the pilgrimage to the Maha Kumbh, I urge the Union Government to intervene and stop airlines from charging exorbitant fees,… pic.twitter.com/x9A9zH8CcX
— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) January 28, 2025
Ahead of the Wednesday's 'shahi snan', the round tickets to Pryagraj from Chennai reached as high as Rs 64,000, outpricing the tickets for famed tourist destinations like the Maldives or Bali.
"On normal days, when the cost of the flight tickets to Prayagraj was Rs 5000-8000. Today, the same flight is costing Rs 50,000-60,000, which means that the flight companies are getting exorbitant prices from the devotees. Lakhs of devotees, who wanted to go to Maha Kumbh, they are anguished because of this," he added.
The surge in flight prices for the UP city was evident during the important days of Mauni Amavasya Snan ( on January 29), Basant Panchami (February 3), Maghi Purnima (February 12), and Mahashivratri (February 26), according to a report in India Today. Meanwhile, a round trip from Delhi to Prayagraj around January 31 was around Rs 49,600, compared to the standard fare of around Rs 9,000.
The AAP MP also said that the government should regulate the pricing of flight tickets so that it is made available to devotees at a 'justifiable' price.
"I, on behalf of all the devotees, request the government that they should put an end to this and take action. The government should also make the flight tickets available at a justified price for the devotees or there should be a cap on the flight pricing," the MP said.
Raghav Chadha earlier raised the issue of exorbitant prices of water, tea and snacks at the airports. Shortly after, the Ministry of Civil Aviation took an initiative to start the 'Udaan Yatri Cafe' for passengers.
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