Increased airfare to Kangra Valley severely affects travelers
Airline fares on the Delhi-Dharamsala and Chandigarh-Dharamsala flight circuits have surged in tandem with the start of the tourist season in the Kangra valley. Right now, a one-way ticket from Delhi to Dharamsala costs between Rs 10,000 and Rs 14,000 in total. The cost of the 40-minute flight between Chandigarh and Dharamsala is now Rs 5,000.
The cost of travel from Delhi to Dharamsala in the winter months seldom went beyond Rs 7,000, usually staying between Rs 4,500 and Rs 7,000. Air India operated a single route between Chandigarh and Dharamsala, with fares that were fixed at Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,500 year-round.
Currently, there are at least six flights each day between Delhi and Dharamsala and Chandigarh and Dharamsala operated by Air India, IndiGo, and SpiceJet. According to sources, the airlines had raised the fee rather than lowered it, even though the majority of seats were still empty.
Local businesses and regular flyers are most severely impacted. Hoteliers warned that the state’s tourist business may suffer if the airfare is not drastically reduced. According to them, most travel companies were booking plane tickets via Chandigarh, Amritsar, and Jammu for visitors visiting the Kangra valley since the airfare was almost half that of Delhi and Dharamsala due to the high cost of transportation between these three cities.
Due to lower airfare, travel firms were also relocating travelers to Kashmir, which was negatively impacting the state’s tourism sector.
The cost of travel to Dharamsala is excessively expensive at over Rs 14,000, whereas the cost from Delhi to Srinagar and Delhi to Jammu is between Rs 4,000 and Rs 6,000.
The busiest airport in the state is located in Gaggal, Kangra. The runway here is now just 1,372 meters long and can only handle aircraft with 70 seats. The location has some of the highest airfares in the nation since only tiny aircraft can land here. A one-way ticket from Dharamsala to Delhi might cost up to Rs 21,000 at the busiest time of year.
