Citing 'no travel demand,' airlines ask government to waive user charges at Srinagar airport for a year
NEW DELHI: Citing virtually "no demand for air travel to and from Kashmir," India's biggest airlines have asked government to waive off Rs 1,250 (taxes extra) that are paid by every passenger flying out of Srinagar as airport & security charges for a year to create a fiscal incentive and help revive visitor flow to the valley.
The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), which represents Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet, recently made this request to aviation secretary Samir Kumar Sinha in a representation.
Following the deadly April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, tourism has all but collapsed in Kashmir. Airfares to the valley and hotel tariffs had skyrocketed post-Covid in Kashmir, but now are at rock bottom as hardly any tourists go there now.
Airlines were asked to resume Srinagar flights but are reporting low aircraft occupancies on flights to and from the place. In fact, travel agents from across the country will converge in Kashmir this weekend in a bid to revive tourism. The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), which is one of the country's biggest umbrella organisations for agents with over 1,600 members, is holding its meeting in Srinagar and Pahalgam from June 13-15.
The FIA letter titled "support required to boost air travel demand at Srinagar airport" to aviation secretary Sinha says: "After the Pahalgam incident, tourists are terrified and no one is travelling to Kashmir region for tourism purposes. There is no demand for air travel to and from Kashmir. Hotels are empty there."
"Apart from safety and security measures, which government of India is taking, financial incentives also play an important role in rebuilding traffic.
Currently, every departing passenger (from Srinagar) pays Rs 1,050 as user development fee (UDF) and Rs 200 as aviation security fee (ASF), plus GST.... request government (to) waive both UDF and ASF for every departing passenger from Srinagar airport for one year with immediate effect.
It will boost air travel demand to and from Srinagar airport," the FIA letter says.
About the upcoming meet in Kashmir this weekend, TAFI VP Anil Kalsi said: 'Our members from all over the country will go to Srinagar and Pahalgam and assess the situation for themselves.
Once and if they feel confident about the place and about the safety & security of tourists, they will again start presenting Kashmir as a destination. We will be staying across hotels, including houseboats, and have meetings with government representatives.
Airlines will also be a part of this meeting we are having in Kashmir.'
Srinagar hotels and flights commanded a big premium before the Pahalgam attack, as Kashmir was seeing unprecedented tourist footfalls post-Covid.
But after the April 22 attack, tourists already there left Kashmir in droves and those who had plans to visit cancelled the same. 'What happened in Pahalgam was tragic and shocking beyond words. Authorities there need to regain the confidence and trust of tourists for the latter to return there,' said a Delhi-based travel agent.
If the agents' meeting finds the situation safe enough for that to happen, what incentives will the local hotels and airlines offer for tourists to return? 'The near complete collapse of demand has left airfares and hotel tariffs at near bottom levels, so prices are very low.
Gulmarg's Khyber, for instance, used to have daily tariffs of about Rs 75,000 which are now down to Rs 21-22,000 and the hotel is offering packages,' said Kalsi.
J & K is currently focused on ensuring a safe Amarnath Yatra, as they hope that will send out a message that tourists can return to Kashmir. The yatra duration has been curtailed to 38 days, instead of 52 days in 2024, and will be between July 3 and Aug 9, 2025. A total of 581 companies from various Central Armed Police Forces, along with personnel from the Jammu and Kashmir Police, will be deployed along the pilgrimage routes to ensure safety of the lakhs of pilgrims.
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