CHENNAI: Air fares on the
Chennai-Port Blair
route have shot up unusually ahead of Diwali, causing inconvenience to those travelling for an emergency.
A one-way ticket on the route is selling for at least Rs 9,000 even if booked one week in advance. There is mostly only one flight a day on the route but demand remains high.
While it is not unusual for last minute fares to be high, especially during festivals, a one-way fare to Port Blair is selling at Rs 9,668 for travel on next Friday.
People who have to travel on emergencies said they are being forced to shell out Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 on flights via another city.
An airline official said that flight is the only option and the cost incurred by airlines is high because weather is turbulent for most of the time. “The route is prone for diversions because of bad weather and a unidirectional runway,” he said.
P S Vijayan, organising secretary of Andaman Association of Tour Operators, said, “The tickets are expensive because of fewer flights. We used to have 15 to 16 flights per day before the pandemic. There are only three to four flights per day from the mainland.”
He rued that the exorbitant airfares would definitely affect tourist arrivals to Port Blair. “Flights are cheaper to Maldives,” he said.
Sriharan Balan of Madura Travels said only business travellers are flying currently because the route was reopened only last month. “There is a lot of demand for travel for business. Tourists are yet to start. There was not much tourism promotion because operators were wary of another wave hitting the islands. It looks like leisure travel is likely to pick up in December.”
He said that high air fare could be a hindrance to promote the destination. "People who travel in groups are sensitive about air fare. Port Blair also has some issues in reopening,” he added.
The route tops Air India's most expensive route as the airline sold around 18% of its seats to Port Blair at the maximum fare in October. Air fare is also high from Kolkata to Port Blair. Vistara, Go Air, IndiGo and SpiceJet also charge high fares on the route.
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