look news india
With the beginning of the holy festive season of Diwali, Dev Deepawali and Chhath Mahaparva, air travel has become very expensive for the devotees and travelers coming to Ayodhya, the holy city of Lord Shri Ram. There has been a huge jump of two to three times in the fares of direct flights operating from major metros of the country to Maharishi Valmiki International Airport of Ramnagari. Amidst the rush of darshan-worship in Ayodhya during festivals and the rush to return home, the seats of planes coming from big industrial cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru are almost completely filled. The situation has become such that those who are planning a journey now have to pay three times more fare than on normal days, which has had a huge impact on the travel budget of the passengers.
While on normal days, air tickets from Mumbai to Ayodhya were easily available for Rs 7,500 to Rs 8,000, after October 25, this fare has increased to beyond Rs 20,000. Similarly, on normal days, a ticket from Ahmedabad in Gujarat to Ayodhya was available for between seven thousand to eight and a half thousand rupees, but on upcoming festive dates, especially around November 17, the fare is skyrocketing to a record of Rs 30 thousand. On normal days, the fare from South India’s tech hub Bengaluru to Ayodhya used to be Rs 11,500 to 12,000, which has now increased to Rs 15,000 to 19,000. Whereas the normal fare of Hisar is around four to four and a half thousand rupees and that of Hyderabad is around ten and a half thousand rupees, in which also a huge increase has been recorded due to festive demand.
Due to seats being almost filled in most of the direct flights coming to Ayodhya, passengers are now left with only the option of connecting flights. Passengers are having to reach Ayodhya through connecting flights via Lucknow, Delhi or other nearby transit airports, due to which the normal travel time of 2 to 3 hours is increasing to 6 to 9 hours. Along with this, the extra fare for connecting flights is putting additional financial burden on the passengers’ pockets. Aviation officials believe that as the festivals approach, the pressure of passengers will increase further. Due to the dynamic pricing system implemented by airlines and recent fluctuations in aviation fuel (ATF) rates, those booking tickets at the last minute may have to pay even more money.
Currently, major airlines like IndiGo, Akasa Air and Air India Express are operating services from Maharishi Valmiki International Airport in Ramnagari Ayodhya to Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Hisar on regular and scheduled days. There are regular daily flights from all three major airlines to the national capital Delhi, while IndiGo operates one daily flight to Mumbai around 5 pm every day. Direct flights to other big cities also continue to operate on different days of the week. Passenger Ajay Saini, who was planning a journey from Mumbai, shared his problem and said that for the festive period of November, he had to book a ticket from Mumbai to Ayodhya for Rs 20 thousand, while the fare to Ahmedabad for November 17 has reached close to Rs 30 thousand. Giving clarification on this situation, Ayodhya Airport Director Dhirendra Singh said that there has been an unexpected increase in the number of passengers coming to Ramnagar on the occasion of festivals and this increase in fares is being seen due to excessive demand.