BackAirlines operating from cities close to Chennai increase fares
Passengers stranded in the Tamil Nadu capital or those who have to fly overseas are seeking to catch flights from nearby cities, resulting in fares shooting up
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Mumbai: Airlines operating from cities near Chennai, where torrential rains have caused the airport to shut down at least until 6 December, have sharply increased fares.
Passengers stranded in the Tamil Nadu capital or those who have to fly overseas are seeking to catch flights from nearby cities, resulting in fares shooting up.
“Fares from other airports namely Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Coimbatore have gone up by more than 60% as there is a huge rush for people wanting to exit Tamil Nadu due to the flood situation," said John Nair, head of business travel at travel firm Cox and Kings Ltd.
According to Reji Philip, who runs Cosmos Agencies, plane tickets that used to be priced at ₹ 4,000-6,000 are costing as much as ₹ 9,000 because of the rush of passengers from Chennai.
Rajesh Rateria, managing director, Cirrus Travels Pvt. Ltd, said it is only natural that airlines are taking advantage of the situation.
Sharat Dhall, president of Yatra Online Pvt. Ltd, said outbound passenger traffic at airports in Coimbatore, Bengaluru, Trichy and Madurai had increased sharply—doubled or even quadrupled.
Madurai and Trichy, however, offer limited airline options, according to Philip.
Much of Chennai has been submerged by rains which, home minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament, had broken a 100-year record and created an emergency situation in the city
“The situation has improved but we are sending more teams so that we can cover as many areas as possible," National Disaster Response Force director general OP Singh told reporters.
Poor phone networks were hampering rescue efforts, while washed out bridges were slowing delivery of relief supplies, National Disaster Management Authority senior official Anurag Gupta said.
“Our top priority is to rescue marooned people on the first and second floors and getting them to safer, drier places," he said.
Schools stayed closed along with some factories in Chennai, a centre for auto manufacturing and IT outsourcing.
Authorities had told private companies to declare Thursday and Friday a holiday for workers due to the flooding.
AFP contributed to this story.
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