PRINCE KUMAR
Ranchi, April 5: With the decrease in the numbers of Covid cases and increase in the road, rail and air traffic, the airfare from Ranchi have hit the roof to the different locations within the country.
According to the sources at the airport, due to a continuous increase in the demand for air tickets and decreased supply of air fuel, the prices of air tickets have shot up.
Flight fare of different locations from Ranchi Airport shows a rise of 30-40% from the flight rate prevailing during the phase of Covid-19.
| Flights | Delhi | Mumbai | Chennai | Hyderabad | Pune |
| Indigo | 7000 | 14000 | 7000 | 6000 | 6000 |
| Vistara | 6700 | 12000 | 12000 | 12000 | 12000 |
| Go First | 7000 | 5000 | 7000 | 13000 | 7000 |
| Air India | 7000 | 7000 | 14000 | 7000 | – |
According to travel agents, tour operators and airline officials, the industry is on road to a quick recovery after a sudden setback around the last week of December.
“The exponential rise in Covid numbers during the last week of December that forced restrictions had left us worried about the fate of the industry. We were just recovering from the twin blow of the two Covid waves when the third one hit again. But the faster the infection had spread, the quicker people healed and numbers came down. Now, clients who had cancelled their bookings are contacting us again to resume travel. This indicates that people have started adjusting their lives according to the rise in infection. I guess, this will be the trend in the coming years as well,” said Dilip Kumar, owner of Adarsh Travel.
He further said that there are a huge number of bookings for Srinagar for which different travel packages are available. “At this point nearly all the hotels in Srinagar are jam-packed with tourists and it is very difficult to get seats for travelling and staying,” he added.
As per railway officials, a majority of long-distance trains have a long waiting list as the trains are plying at full capacity these days. Talking to lagatar24.com, a senior official of the Ranchi railway division said that occupancy in long-distance trains has gone up.
“Two-three months ago, the occupancy rate had gone down because of the Covid scenario. Now though there is a long waiting list for all long-distance trains running from Hatia. Trains like Hatia-Yeshwantpur express, Dhanbad Alappuzha express, Hatia- LokManya Tilak (Kurla) express and Hatia Pune all have a waiting list as the demand has gone up,” the official said.
