Cheaper to travel to Dubai than Kashmir: Skyrocketing flight ticket prices burn a hole in travelers' pockets

With the arrival of spring, thousands of tourists are thronging Kashmir on a daily basis, but for many, the palns are dampened courtesy exorbitant flight tickets, reports ETV Bharat's Muhammad Zulqarnain Zulfi.

Srinagar (J&K): With the arrival of spring that ushers the beginning of the tourist season in Kashmir, travelers are once more thronging the valley in good numbers. While the weather is pleasant in the Valley, it is getting hotter each passing day in other parts of the country giving all the more reasons for the tourists to turn to the valley for well planned trips.

However, many tourists are compelled to reconsider a trip to Kashmir at the last minute courtesy skyrocketing flight tickets. Believe it or not, it is cheaper for an average Indian traveler to travel to Dubai than Kashmir. While a Srinagar-Delhi flight ticket costs about Rs 8,000, the return ticket is unimaginable for a commoner at a whopping Rs 21,000.

Likewise, it costs roughly Rs 14,000 to Rs 16,000 to fly from Srinagar to Hyderabad and Rs 18,000 to as high as Rs 24,000 to travel from Hyderabad to Srinagar these days. It's interesting to note that flights from these big cities to the Gulf nations cost less than those bound for Srinagar. The cost of a ticket from Delhi to Dubai ranges from Rs 15,000 to Rs 22,000, whilst Hyderabad to Dubai air ticket costs between Rs 15,000 and Rs 16,000, way cheaper in terms of the distance.

• It costs less to travel to Dubai than Srinagar from Hyderabad.
  Mostly students suffer due to this exploitation.
  This is how Kashmiris r being looted & no one gives a damn!
  It looks ministries & regulators have given up their jobs.@JM_Scindia @KTRBRS @OmarAbdullah @MehboobaMufti pic.twitter.com/l0dgTYQ2nv

  — Barkatunnisa برکت النساء (@Barkatunnisa1) March 12, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  It costs less to travel to Dubai than Srinagar from Hyderabad.
  Mostly students suffer due to this exploitation.
  This is how Kashmiris r being looted & no one gives a damn!
  It looks ministries & regulators have given up their jobs.@JM_Scindia @KTRBRS @OmarAbdullah @MehboobaMufti pic.twitter.com/l0dgTYQ2nv

  — Barkatunnisa برکت النساء (@Barkatunnisa1) March 12, 2023

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  It costs less to travel to Dubai than Srinagar from Hyderabad.
  Mostly students suffer due to this exploitation.
  This is how Kashmiris r being looted & no one gives a damn!
  It looks ministries & regulators have given up their jobs.@JM_Scindia @KTRBRS @OmarAbdullah @MehboobaMufti pic.twitter.com/l0dgTYQ2nv

  — Barkatunnisa برکت النساء (@Barkatunnisa1) March 12, 2023

“It costs less to travel to Dubai than Srinagar from Hyderabad. Mostly students suffer due to this exploitation. This is how Kashmiris are being looted and no one gives a damn! It looks ministries and regulators have given up their jobs,” a traveler wrote on Twitter. There are roughly 40 flights arriving at Srinagar Airport every day from different places.

On a daily basis, these aircraft carry about 12,000 passengers. Moreover, Srinagar and major Indian cities are served by all the country's top airlines. Faiz Ahmad Bakshi, the secretary general of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), believes that there is a mafia behind the skyrocketing of flight tickets despite a huge rush of travelers.

"Both supply and demand are favorable here. Locals are the first to use the air route in this region, followed by students, professionals in the workforce, patients, and tourists. Nonetheless, the mafia is active. The airlines work hand in glove with the outside travel agencies,” he said. Bakshi said that the airlines in connivance with the outside travel agents block the online tickets due to which the flight ticket prices go through the roof.

“But when a customer contacts the local travel agents in Kashmir, they subsequently end up getting a significantly better deal," he added. Bakshi also pointed out to the Standing Committee of the Parliament recently recommending a cap on the air tickets.

“We applaud their initiative and urge them to put these recommendations into practice as quickly as possible while also keeping a check on it. In this regard, we will also write to the Ministry of Civil and Aviation Affairs. Why would a tourist travel here when flights to Dubai are so inexpensive?" he said.

Prominent valley-based travel agents who shared Bakshi's opinions urged the administration to set a cap on fares on the Srinagar route. "Following the pandemic, the Kashmir valley's tourism industry is blooming. The previous year was also good, and this year is probably going to be even better. Nonetheless, the rising cost of air travel can dampen tourism here,” Farooq Ahmad Kuthu, the President of the Travel Agents Association of Kashmir (TAAK), said.

Kuthu said that compared to the Middle Eastern nations, flying from major Indian cities to Srinagar is costly. “I have a number of calls from potential tourists. They no longer desire to visit this place. We thus urge the administration to give it special consideration," he added.

Basharat Hussain, a prominent travel agent in the valley, feels that the cost of flying from Delhi to Srinagar is always high. Yet, it is still cheaper to travel from Srinagar to Delhi. In comparison to India's major cities, the fare is greater here, he said. “It is exorbitant. So, the administration needs to increase Srinagar frequency of flights. Because of high airfare, there is a negative effect on Kashmir tourism."