After panicked tourists and pilgrims made a beeline to leave Srinagar, airline prices went through the roof
An Intelligence alert last Friday that Pakistani militants had infiltrated Kashmir and were planning to launch attacks on the Amarnath yatris, led to an official announement that all pilgrims and tourists should leave the Valley immediately, and cancellation of the Yatra. As panic set in, and tourists started leaving, the inevitable happened... air ticket prices soared.
This came on the heels of reports that statewide, security has been enhanced and thousands of paramilitary troops being sent to Kashmir. The Indian Army said it had killed 7 militants in operations. The army also said, at a joint press conference at 15 Corps in Srinagar, that it had recovered a landmine and a sniper rifle from the yatra route.
The announcement panicked thousands of tourists, who started to leave Srinagar. The Indian Air Force operated 32 aircraft to help ferry them out.
But given the numbers, many tourists had no option but to take a flight. Airline prices, because of the rush, surged.
Ticket prices on some airlines went up to Rs 16,000 over the weekend. The same ticket cost Rs5,600 earlier.
They said the increase in ticket prices was due to rising tension in the state. Around 6,216 passengers arrived at the Srinagar airport yesterday. Of them, 5,829 were taken by airline and 387 were taken by the Indian Air Force to Jammu, Pathankot and Hinden. He said we are working to get people out safely.
Hon'ble Minister for Civil Aviation Shri @HardeepSPuri has asked all airlines to reinstate old fares for pilgrims from Amarnath Dham.
- Ministry of Civil Aviation (@MoCA_GoI) August 3, 2019
Aviation Minister Hartip Singh Puri said on the official Twitter page of the aviation ministry that all airlines had been directed to reduce prices for the benefit of the pilgrims. Air India alone has set a ticket price of Rs 6,715 from today till August 15.
[Autotranslated from Tamil]