Air India, IndiGo add Leh and Srinagar flights to fill gap left by Go First

Despite heavy demand from across the country, the daily average number of passengers headed to Srinagar dropped to 11,500-12,000 last month from 17,500-18,000 a year ago

Air India and IndiGo have added flights to Leh and Srinagar to fill up the capacity gap caused by grounding of Go First.

While Air India has increased its frequency with additional flights from  Delhi to Leh, Srinagar and Pune till June 30, IndiGo is operating extra flights from Mumbai to Leh, Srinagar and Dehradun in June and July.

Go First operated around 200 flights daily before temporarily halting flights on May 2. Its top routes included Delhi-Srinagar, Delhi-Leh, Delhi-Pune among others. The cancellations have resulted in reduction in capacity and increased airfares on these routes.

In fact, the daily average number of passengers headed to Srinagar dropped to 11,500-12,000 last month from 17,500-18,000 a year ago.

"Srinagar continues to see year-long demand from across the country. This year is no exception. The only dampener is high ticket fares following suspension of Go First flights. Getting seats to Leh is impossible due to extremely limited inventory," said Sudhir Patil, director of Mumbai-based tour operator Veena World.

Patil added that all their group tours to Kashmir and Leh are on including those that were originally booked on Go First flights. However, the group size of these tours shrunk as a majority of  customers (booked on Go First) deferred travel instead of rebooking on other flights.

"The number of tourists visiting Ladakh this summer is lower than last year due to high airfares and suspension of Go First operations. Also, compared to last year, international travel is also higher as destinations have reopened for tourists. This has affected us too," said Tsetan Angchuk, past president & advisor, All Ladakh Tour Operators Association.