Chennai floods: Domestic airlines jack up one-way airfares over Rs 50,000

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Domestic airlines have jacked up their fares multifold for flights landing and departing from the airports closer to Chennai in the wake of heavy rains in the state and subsequent closure of the capital city airport.

According to PTI, national carrier Air India was charging fares as high as Rs 51,750 for a business class ticket for its flight to the city from Bangalore, while private Jet Airways fares stood at Rs 47,000. These fares, in normal situation, could be around Rs 25,000.

AAI, which has announced the partial resumption of flight services from Chennai airport Saturday, had earlier decided to close the airport till Sunday due to flooding of the runway and nearby operation areas.

Significantly, Government had Thursday allowed some domestic airlines to carry out limited commercial operations from the Rajali Naval Air Station near Arakkonam, with a fixed ticket price of Rs 1,000 for Southern destinations and Rs 2,000, after national carrier Air India landed a passenger flight at the naval air station.

With PTI Inputs