Air India Drops Delhi-Srinagar Flights Fare After 'Leave Kashmir' Advisory

Air India on Sunday reduced the fares for flights in and out of Srinagar, with Srinagar-Delhi tickets priced at Rs 6,715 and Delhi-Srinagar at Rs 6,899 till August 15.

Air India on Sunday reduced the fares for flights in and out of Srinagar, with Srinagar-Delhi tickets priced at Rs 6,715 and Delhi-Srinagar at Rs 6,899 till August 15. (PTI)

New Delhi: In the wake of the security advisory issued by the state government for the tourists and Amarnath yatris to leave the Valley, Air India on Sunday reduced the fares for flights in and out of Srinagar, with Srinagar-Delhi tickets priced at Rs 6,715 and Delhi-Srinagar at Rs 6,899 till August 15. The national carrier earlier today decided to cap the fare at Rs 9,500 till Independence Day in view of the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Tourists and Amarnath Yatra pilgrims started leaving the Kashmir Valley on Saturday after the state government's advisory asked them to cut short their stay. Some anxious tourists crowded the airport in Srinagar on Saturday, many without tickets for flights. Following which the airfares for flights from Srinagar over the weekend shot up to abnormally high levels. However, the national carrier later capped the fare for all Air India flights to/from Srinagar till 15th August. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has also advised airlines to rein in surging airfares for pilgrims returning from Amarnath Yatra. "In view of the prevailing circumstances, #AirIndia has decided to cap the fare @9500 for all #AirIndia flights to/from #Srinagar till 15th August," Air India tweeted today.

#flyAI : In view of the prevailing circumstances, #AirIndia has decided to cap the fare @9500 for all #AirIndia flights to/from #Srinagar till 15th August.

— Air India (@airindiain) August 4, 2019

In another tweet, the airline said: "#flyAI: #update #airindia further reduces fare at Rs. 6715 srinagar to del and at Rs. 6899 Delhi to srinagar till 15th aug (date included)."

#flyAI: #update #airindia further reduces fare at Rs 6715 srinagar to del and at Rs 6899 Delhi to srinagar till 15th aug (date included).

— Air India (@airindiain) August 4, 2019

For a one-way direct flight from Srinagar to Delhi, even low-cost airlines such as IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir and AirAsia charged between Rs 10,000 to Rs 22,000, according to travel portals, as against around Rs 3,000. Similarly, from Srinagar to Jammu, flight rates on Saturday were Rs 16,000. Other places like Amritsar, Chandigarh, and Jaipur also witnessed a jump in airfares ranging between Rs 10,000 to Rs 19,000. Web portals of several airlines with flights from Srinagar on Saturday and Sunday showed that virtually all seats were sold out. The advisory to Amarnath yatris was issued after it was announced in a joint press conference of the Army and police forces in Srinagar that weapons and ammunition were recovered in the Amarnath Yatra route. They also said terrorists from Pakistan were planning to launch an attack on Amarnath Yatra pilgrims, based on credible inputs. In view of the additional rush of passengers, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had on Friday asked Indian airlines to be prepared to operate extra flights to and from Srinagar to fly out Amarnath Yatris and tourists from the Valley. Given the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, central civil aviation authorities have advised airlines to spare additional capacity that can be deployed to Srinagar in case of an emergency. According to government sources, airlines have been advised to free up capacity that can be quickly deployed to the state so that tourists and pilgrim s can be flown-out. On their part, airlines such as Air India, IndiGo and Vistara have waived rescheduling, cancellation charges for all flights to and from Srinagar. (With inputs from agencies)