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After IndiGo cancels flights, airline ticket prices soar in Jammu, Srinagar
Passengers left to wait it out amid uncertainty in freezing conditions in Srinagar and Jammu airports.
Chaos was witnessed at Jammu airport after IndiGo cancelled all 11 flights from the city on Friday, while ticket prices of other airlines skyrocketed, leaving passengers at the receiving end. In Srinagar, 10 of the 18 scheduled flights were cancelled.
Ashwani Handa, 50, a government official, said, he had to catch an Indigo flight to Mumbai on Thursday to attend an important meeting. “I’m still stuck in Jammu on Friday afternoon. IndiGo has not set up any help desk here for its passengers. There is no information on refund of tickets and no accommodation arranged by the airlines,” he said.
Handa said that following the cancellation of IndiGo flights, other domestic airlines had increased their fares exorbitantly. “They are charging ₹50,000 per passenger from Jammu to Mumbai,” he said. The normal one-way fare from Jammu to Mumbai in economy class ranges between ₹12,000 to ₹15,000 a passenger, depending on availability.
The normal Srinagar-Delhi IndiGo fare is ₹3,500 to ₹4,500, but passengers complained that other airlines were charging up to ₹7,000 on the route for last-minute bookings.
Many passengers, who had left for the Srinagar airport early in the morning in freezing conditions, had to return as the flights got cancelled. “I had to board the morning flight to Delhi but after waiting for two hours in the cold, I was forced to return after the official told us that all IndiGo flights had been cancelled,” said Javid, a businessman.
He said many passengers chose to wait at the airport, hopeful that flight operations would resume later in the day.
When contacted, Jammu airport director Devendra Yadav said that IndiGo had notified its passengers about the flight cancellation. “While all 11 IndiGo flights have been cancelled, four flights to Leh, Srinagar and Delhi are being operated normally by Spicejet, Air India and Air India Express,” he said.
On the ticket rate hike, Yadav claimed that the authorities were keeping a watch on the fares and there was no exorbitant spike in fares by other airliners.
The official claimed that IndiGo had arranged transport and accommodation for 50 stranded passengers.
However, several passengers at Jammu airport complained of last-minute cancellations, long waiting hours, and lack of timely updates.
Deepak Gupta, a Delhi-bound passenger, said that he was forced to reschedule his travel plans because of the crisis.
