Flight movements are set to grow sixfold with an unprecedented number of chartered flights ferrying India’s wealthiest devotees and others to the temple town.
Railway ticket bookings have surged 60% and intercity cab operators are expecting a 50% spike in bookings, said travel portals.
Ayodhya airport director Vinod Kumar said there have been a total of 42 enquiries from charter operators. Given the expected rush, there’s unlikely to be enough parking space for planes at the brand new airport. Kumar has told charter operators to just drop off and pick up passengers on January 22.
“They will park aircraft at neighbouring airports such as Lucknow, Varanasi, Kushinagar, Patna and even Delhi,” he said.
Rajan Mehra, CEO of Club One Air, an air charter firm, said, “This year will be a new high for charters.” Apart from the Ayodhya event, private charter operators have already seen a spike in bookings to Ahmedabad for the Vibrant Gujarat investor summit and campaigning for the general elections will see another surge in demand for flights. Surge in enquiries
For the temple inauguration, Club One Air has bookings for three Falcon 2000 12-seater business jets.There’s been a surge in interest with around 25 enquiries for charter flights to Ayodhya in anticipation of the upcoming inauguration, said Kanika Tekriwal, founder and CEO of JetSetGo, a marketplace for charters.
“This represents a significant rise in demand compared to our usual volume for the region,” she said. “The requests have come from various cities, including Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Nagpur.”
IndiGo and Air India Express started regular flights to Ayodhya from Delhi on December 30. SpiceJet chairman Ajay Singh said on Thursday the airline will follow suit soon.
SpiceJet has planned a special Delhi-Ayodhya-Delhi flight for those attending the ceremony at the Ram temple.
Ayodhya airport expects a rise in scheduled flights soon.
“Currently, we are seeing four flight movements per day. This will grow to 20-24,” said an airport executive.
Vineet Sehgal, CEO, Million-Air, a leading aircraft charter operator, is operating three private jets, and needs to accommodate seven more charters.
Average fare
The average fare for the mentioned routes ranges from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh, depending on the size of the aircraft, said Tekriwal of JetSetGo.
Flying to Ayodhya airport may be challenging due to fog and low visibility, said Mandar Bharde, managing director of charter and air ambulance operator MAB Aviation.
“We are waiting for some clarity on the permissions, as the Ayodhya airport clearly cannot accommodate so many charters. Preparations are being made to reach a day prior to the event,” said Bharde.
Ayodhya airport is built to handle 1 million passengers annually, although it’s now only open six hours a day. That will be extended to 12 at the time of the temple inauguration or “24 hours if the need arises,” said airport director Kumar.
Staff count of over 50
The airport, run by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), has a staff count of slightly more than 50 and will get 10-15 more people temporarily from neighbouring airports to handle the increase in flight operations.
There will also be a surge in rail and road travel around the January 22 event.
Ixigo has seen “more than a 100% increase in domestic flight searches week on week for Ayodhya since the launch of the new airport and more than a 60% week-on-week increase in train travel searches,” said Aloke Bajpai, cofounder and group CEO. “Maximum travel demand for travel to Ayodhya is from Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi.”
The BJP-led Chhattisgarh government Wednesday announced an annual free train travel scheme to Ayodhya.
