Last-minute fare hike for Haj

New Delhi: The Centre today hiked the Haj airfare by Rs 4,000 to Rs 16,000, a day before the month-long pilgrimage begins, while adding Ranchi and Mangalore to the list of embarkation points.
The last-minute fare increase, cleared at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sparked concerns it could inconvenience the pilgrims and organisers.
Sources in the Haj Committee of India said the hike had come late and bookings had already been made at Rs 12,000, last year’s rate. The rest of the amount will now have to be recovered from the pilgrims, they said.
Under the subsidy scheme in force for Haj, even after each pilgrim pays Rs 16,000, the rest of the airfare will be borne by the Centre.
The inclusion of Ranchi and Mangalore, meant to benefit pilgrims from Jharkhand and Karnataka, will take the number of embarkation points to 19, an official spokesperson said. The civil aviation ministry will be responsible for facilitating the travel for the pilgrims sponsored by the Haj committee, the spokesperson said, adding they will be travelling by Air India, Saudi Arabian Airlines and National Air Services (NAS) of Saudi Arabia.
19/10/09 PTI/The Telegraph

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Categories: Air India - International Oct 2009, Foreign Oct 2009, NACIL Oct 2009