Kangra (HP): A piquant situation has arisen before the routine air travellers who have been left in a lurch by the skyrocketing airfares between Delhi and Dharamshala, in view of the upcoming IPL matches in Dharamshala on May 5 and 9.
The airfare between Delhi and Dharamshala usually is between Rs. 6,000 and 7,000 but went up multi-fold due to the IPL matches scheduled at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association stadium.
Air travellers who now have to pay through their nose are unhappy. As of Tuesday, the fare has gone up between Rs 24,000 and 27,000 per passenger on May 4, 5, 8 and 9. As of Tuesday, the air fare between Delhi and Dharamshala stands between Rs 17,000 and 24,000 a head of the IPL matches.
The Director Kangra Airport Dhirendra Singh told UNI that due to the IPL or other international cricket matches in Dharamshala, the general trend is that passenger growth increases and scheduled flights are increased and 10 to 12 chattered flights also land here at Kangra airport.
He said that a lot of passenger growth was witnessed during the world cup matches in the past too, at the Kangra airport and as of now passenger growth and demand has increased further.
Dhirendra Singh further said that additional flights are being introduced by the airlines during this period besides the number of the existing scheduled flights to fulfill the demand.
He said the picturesque stadium at the foothills of the snow-clad Dhauladhar mountain range attract patrons of the game in large numbers from within India and outside so the passenger growth increases.
The Director Airport said that generally the airfare from Delhi to Dharamshala is around Rs. 7,000 but it has been experienced in the past that airfare can go up to 20,000 to 25000 per passenger when the marches are held in HPCA Stadium.
He said that if passenger growth goes up this time too, which is surely expected, the airfare touch Rs. 30,000.
He said that there are 16 daily flights to the Kangra Airport and three airlines are operating here -- Spice Jet, Indigo and Alliance.
The Kangra Airport, is a domestic airport, located on Pathankot Mandi National Highway, serving areas of Kangra including Dharamshala, the winter capital of the state.
It is also the largest airport in Himachal Pradesh in terms of passengers and aircraft movement, handling over 200,000 passengers and over 4,200 aircraft annually.
Between April 2023 and March 2024, the Kangra Airport witnessed 14.3 per cent growth in passenger traffic which touched 2,01,391.
There was 11.1 percent increase in the aircraft movement which was recorded at 4,208 in last financial year.
A travel agent Neha Sharma said that the airfare on these days has touched between Rs. 24,000 to Rs. 27,000 from Delhi to Dharamshala due to the IPL.
Some passengers who had to visit Dharamshala on May 5 and 9 decided to break their journey at Chandigarh and from there they decided to adopt the road to reach Dharamshala in view of the hike in the fare, she informed.
Dr. Sanjay Sachdeva, Director ENT and Head and Neck surgery was to attend a free ENT camp at Kangra on May 5 and was one among such a passengers.
Expansion of Kangra Airport is in offing and the land settlement is in its final stage. It is expected to bring some relief.