`Cheaper to Fly to London`: Travellers Complain of High Airfare on Delhi-Leh Route, BJP MP Raises Matter in Parliament

Many people, including Education reformer Sonam Wangchuk and BJP MP from Ladakh Jamyang Tsering Namgyal have reacted on the exorbitant price of the air ticket to Leh from Delhi.

BJP MP from Ladakh Jamyang Tsering Namgyal recently raised the matter of exorbitant airfare on Delhi-Leh route in the Parliament. He also sought the government's intervention to redress the grievances of the stranded passengers immediately after closure of Srinagar-Leh road route resulted in airfare skyrocketing to over Rs 30,000 on Delhi-Leh route. In the last couple of days, airfare to Leh from Delhi has crossed Rs 30,000, that has led to many people being stranded in the Union Territory. Many people have reacted on social media platforms about the exorbitant price of the air ticket to Leh.

Officials said that the closure of the Srinagar-Leh road route is the main reason behind the spiralling of air fares to Leh. A flight ticket from Delhi to Leh on February 18 was quoted at Rs 33,000. The airfare was found in the similar range for a ticket on February 19.

Education reformer Sonam Wangchuk tweeted: "Dilli Bahoot Door Hai! For a whole week Del-Leh airfares are above Rs 33000 when all roads are blocked for 6 months. Much cheaper to fly to London, than to Leh!!! Imagine students, patients returning home! Few additional flights shouldn`t be hard!"

"It's very inhumane to charge exorbitant amount each time for emergency matters, there should be limit on maximum an airline can charge," said Jitu on Twitter. "Don`t take too much advantage, there is only one way to travel across Ladakh by flight in winter season. Airfare from Jammu, Chandigarh Delhi to Leh is touching sky. Local residents of Ladakh must get some discounts," said Tsering Gaphel on Twitter.

According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, airfare are market driven and is neither regulated nor established by the government. The airlines are free to fix reasonable tariffs under the provisions of sub-rule (1) of Rule 135 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 having regard to all relevant factors, including the cost of operation, characteristics of services, reasonable profit and the generally prevailing tariff.

With IANS inputs