Tripura Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury on Wednesday asserted that the Civil Aviation Ministry saw ‘no abnormality’ in the air ticket price on the Agartala-Kolkata route. Recently, Chowdhury had written to Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu about exorbitant ticket prices on the busy route and sought his intervention for fixing an upper cap on airfare.
“Officials from the ministry have said that there was no abnormality in the airfare. The ministry has no role in fixing fares. The airline companies decide on the price of tickets based on demand and availability of tickets”, Chowdhury told reporters.
He said the ministry has categorically said the airfares showing on the online platforms of the airline companies are “well within the price bucket”.
According to the minister, several airline companies have closed down their operations due to different reasons while only two or three companies are dominating the entire domestic aviation sector.
The Tripura government is dissatisfied with aviation companies for not lowering airfares despite a substantial tax cut on aviation turbine fuel. Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury has asked the Union Civil Aviation Minister to impose an upper cap on airfares for Agartala-Kolkata and Agartala-Guwahati routes, especially ahead of Durga Puja, to alleviate financial strain on travelers.
Various online booking platforms showed that the price of air tickets on the Agartala-Kolkata route is around INR 3,400 to 4,000 in the months of September and October this year. Chowdhury, who is also the Tourism Minister, said the International Tourism Day will be observed in the state on September 27. “Chief Minister Manik Saha will inaugurate the programme titled ‘Tourism and Peace’ while a cultural programme will also be held to mark the occasion. Famous singer from West Bengal, Srikant Acharjee will perform there,” he said.
Chowdhury said the tourist footfall from Bangladesh has been drastically reduced to the state following political turmoil in the neighbouring county.
“The tourist inflow has doubled since former Indian cricket captain Saurav Ganguly became brand ambassador of the state’s tourism. However, the number of tourists from Bangladesh has declined due to political unrest in the neighbouring country. I do believe the situation will improve in future,” he said.
