Pahalgam terror attack: What airline passengers bound or stuck in Srinagar should know

The entire country was shaken by the ghastly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22, 2025, when terrorists killed more than 20 tourists.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short his official visit to Saudi Arabia and returned to Delhi to hold a series of meetings to review the situation following the terror attack in Pahalgam.

Tourists are understandably worried and are looking for ways to leave the Kashmir valley at the earliest or cancel trips planned for the coming weeks.

The first set of tourists is those currently in the valley, stranded as the road to Jammu is also closed due to landslides over the last couple of days. Flights are either fully booked or nearly full, making last-minute bookings nearly impossible, even at high fares.

Airlines have been working on solutions since Tuesday evening. Air India announced two extra flights, one each to Delhi and Mumbai.

More airlines are likely to follow. Mounting additional flights requires planning and time, as no airlines have extra aircraft available. This often involves cancelling a few flights or making schedule changes to existing flights to accommodate additional flights.

On their own, the airlines have dropped fares from Srinagar to Delhi with several flights available for under ₹15,000 as of early Wednesday morning, compared with over ₹20,000 yesterday.

Air India, Air India Express, Akasa Air and IndiGo have already announced waivers for cancellation and rebooking. Passengers currently in the valley looking to truncate their holidays and return can avail of the waivers and rebook available flights. While they must still pay any fare difference, they will be exempt from cancellation and rebooking charges.

More often than not, passengers rush to the airport to find a way out, but this may not be effective. Srinagar airport will be inundated with passengers doing the same. Managing the sudden rush will be difficult with limited staff, and passengers may face hardships, leading to unnecessary altercations.

Passengers whose trip is yet to start

Srinagar is to see the highest number of flights this summer, with over 50 flights a day planned for May across 11 destinations in India.

IndiGo is leading the charge with 156 weekly departures, followed by the Air India group comprising Air India and Air India Express, which have 116 weekly departures planned. SpiceJet has 62, while Akasa Air has 13.

It is too early to tell if the current situation will be a blow to the airlines. However, passengers with imminent travel plans who wish to cancel should take advantage of the cancellation waivers being offered. These waivers can help save on cancellation charges, even for non-refundable fares and give passengers a refund of most of their fare, if not all.

Airlines are not legally mandated to offer such waivers and are likely to withdraw them in due course. Travellers should also remember that fares may fluctuate depending on how the situation evolves.

So, if a booking is cancelled now and rebooked later, the new fare will apply, based on availability and pricing at the time of booking.

Airlines and price sensitivity

Social media is abuzz about high fares being offered by airlines from Srinagar. While it is important to understand that airlines are adding flights, which will most likely fly empty one way and that they need to recover the cost of flying these flights, airlines also need to think out of the box in such situations.

Dynamic pricing could be stopped in such situations, with all seats offered at the same rate, which will definitely be higher than what early bookers would have paid otherwise. This would help airlines recover costs while avoiding the perception of unfair pricing during times of grief and crisis.

Tail Note

With a Cabinet Committee of Security meeting lined up and world leaders coming out in support, decisive action looks imminent. What form that action takes, and how the response would be, will be closely watched.

The last time Indian military forces were involved, following the Balakot airstrikes, it led to a standoff, leading to the closure of Pakistani airspace for Indian carriers and flights to and from India.