Airspace closure over Pakistan forces Chandigarh-Dubai flight to take longer route

MOHALI: The closure of airspace over Pakistan is forcing flight operators to take longer route to reach Middle East, Europe and Canada digging big hole in the pockets of the international tourists. The longer flight time has scaled the air fare and the tourists are facing the music.
The Dubai flight is generally arriving late at Chandigarh International Airport as the flight is forced to follow air route to overfly Gujarat to reach Chandigarh.The flight was late by 44 minutes at Chandigarh on Monday as well. Last week the flight arrived as late as over one hour from Dubai and after scheduled departure from Chandigarh reach late at Dubai, said the official of Indigo Airlines.
The Dubai flight from Chandigarh which costed around Rs 16,000 to Rs 18,000 earlier is now costing to Rs 21,000 to Rs 24,000 after the closure of airspace over Pakistan, said a travel agent.
Similarly, the flights arriving and departing Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) in Delhi are also overflying Gujarat to reach other parts of the western countries. Jagdeep Singh, a frequent flier to the Middle East said, “I have my business set up in UAE and generally take flight from Chandigarh to Dubai. Since the airspace over Pakistan is closed, the flight travel time has increased by around two hours and there has been a hike in fare by 25% to 30%.”
Another traveller, Deepak Singh seeking a flight from Delhi to Canada said, “Recently I have come back from Europe business tour and experienced that the flight time to reach Delhi has increased by around two hours. We had an announcement in the aircraft explaining the reasons for increased flight time as the flight came via overflying Gujarat. Accordingly, the air fare have also soared.”
The Chandigarh-based travel agents are also of the same view that the fares for international flights have increased. Parminder Singh Sethi, owner of Riverpool holidays said, “The ticket booked to Europe which cost around Rs 35,000 to Rs 45,000 has now soared to Rs 50,000 to Rs 65,000 due to airspace closure. The flight operators have been reasoning that they have to follow longer route to reach Europe.”
Another tours and travel agent Piyush Kohli said, “Apart from upsurge in domestic fares, the fares for Canada and US have also escalated by 30% to 40%. We had booked air tickets for our customers offering to fly to Canada before airspace was closed, the airfare for Canada which was approximately Rs 40,000 jumped to Rs 60,000 to Rs 90,000. Now, we are facing a problem to get the refund of air tickets.”