Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 9: Member of Parliament from Ladakh, Hassan Khan discussed in detail with Civil Aviation (CA) Minister and other officials regarding the new challenges faced by the tourism industry as well as common citizens of Ladakh owing to the drastic reduction in flights by various airlines.
The MP apprised the Minister that the number of flights to Leh sector has been reduced tremendously as a result of which the tour operators are in a fix to expand their business and extending other facilities in the tourist trade in the region.
Today the operators don’t know how the gap of 4500 air seats caused due to withdrawl of Kingfisher Airline will be filled as no airline has so far announced any increase in number of flights in that sector, he told the Minister, adding our national carrier, the Air India has also not come forward to fill the gap, rather it too has reduced its number of flights. Moreover, the hike in fare to Leh is too much today that it is going beyond the reach of common man.
Similarly, the Mantra Regional air services started to Kargil in early January 2013 with small aircrafts also disappeared from the radar, Khan said, adding though the fare was so high but the people and authorities had demanded to start it with same fare, as subsidy is a separate issue and has nothing to do with the airlines.
The Aviation Minister assured all necessary help to make the air service in Ladakh smooth before the start of the season.
About Mantra, it was told that the Airlines have assured to start their service in immediate future.
Meanwhile, the memorandum from Ladakh Tour Operators and Hotel & Guest House Association along with MP’s own points was also presented to the Minister for suitable action.
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