Flight booking services reopened at Tourist Reception Centre in Srinagar

The district administration in Sringar has reopened ticket booking services for multiple airlines at Tourist Reception Centre. The move is likely to benefit several passengers who can avoid much procedural delays in Srinagar airport including security checks and frisking.

Srinagar: The Srinagar district administration on Tuesday opened much-awaited airline ticket booking counters at city's Tourist Reception Centre (TRC), facilitating better movement for people and freight.

The counters have been set up in collaboration with Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department and the Airports Authority of India.

Tourism contributes about 15% of GDP of the erstwhile state. It is estimated that almost 50-60% of the total population of JK is directly or indirectly engaged in hospitality and tourism-related activities. The reopening of airline ticket counters is expected to improve the tourist footfall in the region.

"People of the Valley have been facing a lot of problems in booking tickets at the Srinagar airport. As a part of this initiative all airlines operating in the region will open their counters to improve ticketing services, " Nissar Ahmad Wani, Director Jammu and Kashmir Tourism said.

He said that the city administration has setup tickets booking centre in collaboration with Airports Authority of India and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has provided all required technical support, including internet lease line.

"We are also in talks with Valley's top travel agents and their counters will also be set up here," he said, adding that they are receiving a healthy response from the general public.

The tickets counters at TRC have received a positive response from the local residents, who had troubles collecting their tickets from airports as the procedure was tiresome.

"The administration should also add railway ticket booking facility too at the centre because the trains are much cheaper as compared to flights," a local resident said.

Meanwhile, security forces have been deployed at strength at various other places to maintain law and order, while internet and telecommunication networks mostly remained shut, even as the government claimed that communication services are slowly being restored in Jammu and Kashmir.