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Abhinav Vashisht
Kullu, April 17
The high fares on the Delhi-Kullu air route threaten to take some of the joy out of travel this holiday season as the sole operator, Alliance Air, looks to make the most of the spurt in demand.
The exorbitant airfare is one of the main deterrents keeping many high-end tourists off the Kullu-Manali-Lahaul circuit, claim those associated with the tourism industry in Himachal. One has to spend anything from Rs 35,980 to Rs 53,095 per person for a roundtrip between Delhi and Kullu during peak tourist season. Even during non-tourist season, the return flight costs around Rs 20,000.
Diwakar Singh, a frequent flyer, says the Delhi-Kullu flight is among the costliest in the world for such a short trip. “Even the airfare from Delhi to Dubai, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and several other countries costs less. Many prefer flying abroad than visiting Kullu,” he says.
Alliance Air, the only government-owned national carrier, operates one 48-seater flight daily from Delhi to Kullu and vice versa. It goes packed in peak season. The one-way fare for the 85-minute (if non-stop) flight ranges from Rs 15,727 to Rs 26,227. In addition, the airline charges a web convenience fee of Rs 350 per person per sector for issuing the ticket through its website.
The flight takes off from Delhi at 6.05 am and lands in Kullu at 8.15 am. The return flight takes off from Kullu around 8.30 am. Barring Sundays, the flight has a stopover in Chandigarh.
Even on the Chandigarh-Kullu route, a 40-minute journey, the fares are sky-high—between Rs 29,615 and Rs 50,196 for roundtrip and Rs 14,312 to Rs 24,603 for one-way flight.
Hoteliers in Kullu say that it being a government airline, Alliance Air should not adopt a “monopolistic approach, but strive for public benefit”. The fare should be revised to a justifiable level and be consistently reviewed by a regulatory authority,” they say.
Hoteliers want end to airline’s ‘monopoly’
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