Spike in air fares as roads remain blocked

SEVERAL AIRLINES SAID THE FLIGHTS BETWEEN DELHI-CHANDIGARH AND MUMBAI-CHANDIGARH WERE OVERBOOKED

CHANDIGARH: The ongoing Jat agitation has made air travel costlier.

The air fare between Chandigarh and Delhi that cost ` 4,000-8,000 till February 18 shot up to ` 16,000-20,000 on February 19, while the air fare between Chandigarh and Mumbai that was ` 9,000-10,000 a day ago, rose to ` 36,650 for the round trip.

Confirming the sudden hike, an official of Spicejet airlines said, “The prices rose during late evening on Friday, following the clashes in Haryana. The prices that were ` 7,000-8,000 till Friday afternoon doubled up by late evening.”

Officials from other airlines, including Air India, GoAir, Indigo and Air Asia, also confirmed the hike. They said the flights between Chandigarh-Delhi and Chandigarh-Mumbai were overbooked and there was no vacancy till February 22.

The websites of several airlines also mentioned that passengers can avail a discount if they travel post February 24.

Meanwhile, all express trains and passenger trains on the Chandigarh, Ambala and Delhi routes remained cancelled for the second day, causing inconvenience to passengers. On Saturday, Volvo buses and those belonging to Haryana Roadways also did not ply on the Chandigarh-Delhi route.

Rupal Garg, a passenger at the Sector 17 bus stand in Chandigarh, said, “I was going to my parents’ home in Jaipur and had already got my ticket booked with Haryana Roadways. But here we got to know that no bus is running on that route. My husband had decided to drop me to Delhi by car but then there is no way to reach Delhi also.”

The railway board issued a notification on Saturday, stating that as many as 91 mail/express trains and 97 passenger trains remained cancelled on February 20. While as many as 20 express trains will remain cancelled on February 21, nine express trains will not ply on February 22.