E-Paper
Smog, low visibility in Delhi delays five flights from Chandigarh, fares stay sky high
Travel agent Vineet Sharma said the prices are up also due to limited number of seats on this route after cancellation of seven flights due to runway repair in Delhi. However, those flights are to resume on Friday, which will stabilise the fare.
Five flights from the city to Delhi were delayed by at least an hour due to smog for the second day at the airport in the national capital on Wednesday. Departures were late primarily because of late arrival from Delhi first.
Air Vistara’s Delhi flight scheduled for 12.15 pm departed at 1.45. Jet Airways’ departure of 2.20 pm ended up becoming 3.40 pm. GoAir’s flight was scheduled at 10.40 am, but took off an hour late. On Tuesday too, six flights on this route including the Srinagar-Chandigarh-Delhi flight departed late from the local airport.
The Delhi-Chandigarh-Srinagar flight got affected on Wednesday too. It had left Delhi an hour and a half late; as a result, it left from Chandigarh to Srinagar at 1.30 pm instead of noon. On its return journey, it was delayed by an hour and 10 minutes.
This delay meant prices taking off to the sky. Usually, the Delhi fare is Rs 1,500-2,000 throughout the day. For Thursday, though, the early morning Delhi flight was available at Rs 1,700, but an afternoon flight at 2.20 pm was at Rs 12,000.
Travel agent Vineet Sharma said the prices are up also due to limited number of seats on this route after cancellation of seven flights due to runway repair in Delhi. However, those flights are to resume on Friday, which will stabilise the fare. In all, 13 flights operate on this route.
Shatabdi four hrs late
Tuesday’s evening Shatabdi Express from Delhi, scheduled to arrive at Chandigarh at 10.45 pm, arrived only at 2.30am on Wednesday, a delay of nearly four hours.
Sources said trains running from Delhi are delayed due to heavy smog. The Lucknow-Chandigarh train was delayed by five hours, Unchahar Express by five hours and 50 minutes, Delhi-Kalka by three hours and 40 minutes, and Barmer-Kalka delayed by four hours and 20 minutes on Wednesday.
