Summer rush: Waiting lists lengthen for trains, flights from Chandigarh

Chandigarh: If you are planning to go on vacation this summer, make sure you rush to the booking counter and get your train or flight tickets well in advance. A rise in passenger volume owing to the approaching summer holidays has led to the increasingly long waiting lists in train reservations from Chandigarh even in cases where bookings have been made a month in advance.
“I wanted to get a ticket booked for Mumbai, but there is none available before a month. I have to opt for a flight now, which would result in an unwanted increase in my vacation budget,” said Rupali Malhotra, a banker from Chandigarh.
Cashing in on the summer rush, low-budget carrier MDLR airlines will soon introduce flights to hill stations, while other airlines is also expected to follow suit. According to MDLR officials, flights to destinations like Dharamshala, Dehradun and Shimla will be introduced from May. Demand for the recently introduced Kingfisher Airlines flights from Chandigarh to Jammu and Srinagar have also picked up considerably.
“Flights from Chandigarh to Srinagar are getting booked faster than those to Jammu. For a 66-seater plane, occupancy usually hovers around 45, which has gone up in recent days. Chandigarh-Delhi evening flights are going full,” said Gurpreet Kaur, Kingfisher Supervisor (Reservations).
Similar trends in passenger response were confirmed by GoAir that recently began operations in Chandigarh, with flights to Delhi, Mumbai and Goa. Airline staff said flight occupancy for 174-seater planes flying to Delhi and Mumbai had gone up to an average of 150 passengers and is expected to go up further in the coming weeks.
01/04/09 Ritu Sarin/Express India

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Categories: Airports May 2009, Indian Aviation- In General May 2009