Rising Airfare; Rationalise ticket prices to Kashmir: Farooq Abdullah asks GOI

National Conference President and Member of Parliament from Srinagar Dr. Farooq Abdullah on Monday sought rationalisation of airfare to all domestic tourists destinations in the country including Kashmir.

He said the escalation of airfare dampens the plans of those countrymen who can ill-afford to pay hefty amounts of pleasure trips across the country.

“People across the country cannot afford to visit domestic destinations due to skyrocketing airfare. There, it is imperative for the government to rationalise the airfare, so that countrymen can visit these domestic destinations, particularly Kashmir,” he said.

He also urged the concerned ministry of tourism to consider reducing charges on allied tourism activities including passes, boarding, lodging, and food. Dr. Farooq also impressed upon the concerned ministry to resume direct flights from Kashmir to Sharjah as well.

Replying to the issues flagged by Dr. Farooq, Minister Tourism G Kishan Reddy said that GOI has given a thought to this issue.

He said the Tourism department doles out subsidies to the Civil Aviation ministry under the Udaan scheme to ensure that underprivileged people are able to board airplanes and visit tourist destinations.

He also enumerated various steps taken by his ministry to ease the visa issuance for tourism purposes.