The spate of violence unleashed by followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim in Haryana and Punjab and subsequent cancellation of all train and bus services have led to record high air fares. The price of one-way ticket for a Delhi to Chandigarh flight on Sunday went up to over Rs 15,801, almost ten times higher than regular fare of Rs 1,500-Rs 2,000.
The abnormal levels of air fares also impacted the Delhi-Amritsar sector as the cheapest air ticket on this route for Sunday was available of Rs 15,685.
The spike in air fares began from Sunday morning as neither did the Indian Railway restore the train services nor did the State Transport Department restore bus services.
The same thing had happened during the Jat agitation in 2016 when the cheapest air ticket from Chandigarh to Delhi was sold at Rs 99,000.
Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Sunday advised airlines to “keep a check on airfares” on the sectors with flights connecting cities like Chandigarh, Jammu and Jaipur. “Airlines have been advised to keep a check on the airfares on these sectors,” a senior DGCA official said.
The distance between Delhi-Chandigarh is 234 kms while the distance between Delhi-Amritsar is 399 kms.
Interestingly, the air ticket for Delhi-Mumbai sector was available of Rs 8,950 for Sunday. The aerial distance between Delhi and Mumbai is 1148 kms.
Officials say that the one-way, 45-minute flight is priced almost 10 times higher as all flights out of Chandigarh were fully booked as people were desperate to get out of the State. “These are the last few seats available,” said an airline official who did not wish to be named. Across the board from economy to business class seats, prices showed a ten-fold jump, with a one-way ticket on travel portal makemytrip selling at Rs 15,801 on the Delhi-Chandigarh sector. The impact of Haryana’s law and order problem was visible on Delhi-Jaipur air route as the fare of Air India has touched Rs 12,861 on Sunday while the Jet Airways has charged Rs 13,081 on the same route on Sunday. The distance between Delhi and Jaipur is 241 kms.
Sensing that situation will be normal by Thursday, the ticket from Chandigarh to Delhi is being sold at Rs 1,815 for August 31.
Sources said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was keeping a tab on the situation.
“DGCA has already cleared one additional flight on Delhi-Amritsar-Delhi of Vistara for Sunday to clear and one each additional flight on Delhi-Chandigarh-Delhi and Delhi-Amritsar-Delhi of Vistara for Monday,” sources said
Officials said that Air India has been requested to explore a flight on Monday on Delhi-Jammu-Delhi sector. Indigo representative has also informed they will mount additional flight on Delhi-Jammu-Delhi sector on 29 Aug. Airlines have also been advised to keep a check on the airfares on these sectors.
There have been no reports of violence from anywhere in Haryana and Punjab on Sunday. Train operations in Punjab and Haryana, severely affected by violence in two states, have been restored, except for the Delhi-Rohtak-Bathinda section, a Railway Ministry statement said in New Delhi. The security clearance for the section is awaited from state authorities, it said.
The case against Ram Rahim was registered in 2002 by the CBI on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after anonymous letters were circulated about the alleged sexual exploitation of two ‘sadhvis’ (female followers) by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.