Nearly four-fold increase in airfare between Jammu & Delhi
The Jat agitation in Haryana has cut-off Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country as all Delhi-bound trains and bus service have been hit. About 15 pairs of Jammu-bound trains remained suspended for the second consecutive day today. Bus operators have also suspended their services till the situation improves.
Thousands of out-bound passengers, including Vaishno Devi pilgrims and security forces personnel, continued to suffer due to cancellation of trains and bus service.
Taking advantage of the situation, airline operators have increased fare by nearly four times. An air ticket from Jammu to Delhi, which costs around Rs 4,000 on usual days, is costing Rs 14,000. Despite hefty fare, all the airlines are packed to capacity.
Anil Sharma from Delhi, who had come to pay obeisance at Vaishno Devi shrine along with his family, said: “I had booked a return ticket to New Delhi in the Rajdhani Express for Saturday evening. After train and bus services were cancelled, I tried to book air tickets. But it cost me Rs 14,000 per ticket. We are a family of four and I cannot afford to buy tickets for all of us at such a high price.” The Railway authorities, meanwhile, said only nine trains of the Saharanpur route were intact all other trains would remain suspended till the complete normalcy was restored.
Meanwhile, to help stranded passengers the Indian Air Force authorities here have announced to keep the Satwari airport open for civil air traffic in the night from today.
“The Indian Air Force has decided to open Satwari airport in Jammu for civil aircraft at night in view of violence and tension in Haryana,” said a defence spokesperson. The move will ensure availability of airport for civil operators round-the-clock. However, no airline operator had announced any extra flight till the last reports came in.
