There seems to be no resolution in sight for the arbitrariness with which the private airline operators conduct their business when it comes to Kashmir, especially during winters. No sooner has the Srinagar-Jammu national highway - the only all weather road connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country, shut down that the airfares to the Valley go through the roof.
The airfare becomes directly proportional to the number of days the highway remains shut. Higher the number of days of highway shutdown, pricier is an air ticket. For a barely 600 odd aerial km journey from Srinagar to New Delhi or vice versa, the price can sometimes go as high as Rs 20000 – Rs 25000 per passenger. Absurd as it may sound, at such price, one can easily buy a return ticket for Dubai or Kuala Lumpur with few extra thousand bucks; the two international cities happen to be twice or even more distant from the two cities in our own country.
Bordering on criminality, this behavior of airline operators repeats itself during summer season as well when tourist season picks up and Kashmir become the most sought place, especially for domestic tourists. At times, it seems there is a nexus between tour and travel operators and airline companies to punish a traveler who may intend to spend some time in Kashmir or make the visit entirely unaffordable.
There is no doubt that the arbitrary hike in airfare has cast a long shadow on the tourism industry of Kashmir and belies the claims that the government was promoting tourism industry of the Valley. Successive governments in Jammu and Kashmir have written to the aviation regulatory authority of the country, DGCA, that the operators must be held to task for this irresponsible behavior, yet no action has been taken. It is no secret that the airlines sell batches of tickets to tour and travel operators through middlemen. The lack of ticket availability coupled with demand shoots the prices over the roof.
That this has been happening right under the nose of the government, both at the centre as well as Jammu and Kashmir raises uncomfortable questions about the role of the official machinery in allowing this wrong to take place. It seems to be a collective punishment for the people of Kashmir, particularly those associated with tourism and allied industries, to deny them their livelihood. Now that a new system is being groomed, can we expect an end to this menace? Or is it too much to ask for?
There seems to be no resolution in sight for the arbitrariness with which the private airline operators conduct their business when it comes to Kashmir, especially during winters. No sooner has the Srinagar-Jammu national highway - the only all weather road connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country, shut down that the airfares to the Valley go through the roof.
The airfare becomes directly proportional to the number of days the highway remains shut. Higher the number of days of highway shutdown, pricier is an air ticket. For a barely 600 odd aerial km journey from Srinagar to New Delhi or vice versa, the price can sometimes go as high as Rs 20000 – Rs 25000 per passenger. Absurd as it may sound, at such price, one can easily buy a return ticket for Dubai or Kuala Lumpur with few extra thousand bucks; the two international cities happen to be twice or even more distant from the two cities in our own country.
Bordering on criminality, this behavior of airline operators repeats itself during summer season as well when tourist season picks up and Kashmir become the most sought place, especially for domestic tourists. At times, it seems there is a nexus between tour and travel operators and airline companies to punish a traveler who may intend to spend some time in Kashmir or make the visit entirely unaffordable.
There is no doubt that the arbitrary hike in airfare has cast a long shadow on the tourism industry of Kashmir and belies the claims that the government was promoting tourism industry of the Valley. Successive governments in Jammu and Kashmir have written to the aviation regulatory authority of the country, DGCA, that the operators must be held to task for this irresponsible behavior, yet no action has been taken. It is no secret that the airlines sell batches of tickets to tour and travel operators through middlemen. The lack of ticket availability coupled with demand shoots the prices over the roof.
That this has been happening right under the nose of the government, both at the centre as well as Jammu and Kashmir raises uncomfortable questions about the role of the official machinery in allowing this wrong to take place. It seems to be a collective punishment for the people of Kashmir, particularly those associated with tourism and allied industries, to deny them their livelihood. Now that a new system is being groomed, can we expect an end to this menace? Or is it too much to ask for?
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