Nagpur: As the new Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to be sworn-in on Friday, a large number of supporters from Nagpur city have booked their tickets through various means of transport. While some have booked on different Airlines, others have chosen the Railways, while a few of them are also slated to travel by private travel buses.
The swearing-in ceremony of the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra is slated to be on Friday, October 31, 2014. If someone has made optimum use of the opportunity to make money, it is travel agents. The ticket fares have shot up for almost all flights between Nagpur and Mumbai.
According to sources in many travel agencies the passengers from Nagpur who are eager to attend their leader’s swearing-in ceremony at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on October 31, 2014 evening will have to shell out any amount ranging from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 30,000 for a flight ticket.
The fare of the fast-exhausting tickets for the evening flights on October 30, 2014, ranged from Rs. 11,000 charged by Jet Airways, Rs. 15,000 by Air India to as high as Rs. 28,000 for a one-way ticket (non-stop flights) to Mumbai.
Some of the regular passengers (businessmen) who travel to Mumbai for business were quick to point out that if they had flexible dates, i.e. travelling on November 1 , they could save as much as 50 per cent.
The ticket fares for October 31, 2014 morning flights were also inflated, ranging from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 21,000. However, the evening fares from Nagpur were no more than Rs. 10,000, at the exact hour when the swearing-in ceremony is on.
From November 1, Air ticket fares for non-stop flights are Rs.6,000:00.
An airline official posted at Mumbai Airport claimed that the traffic to the city from Nagpur has increased in the last few days. Since the demand has increased, the cost of airfare too has increased significantly.
Many frequent flyers from the city opined that almost all airlines know that supporters of Devendra Fadnavis will be flying to Mumbai, so they have taken advantage of the situation by increasing the price of their tickets. Some of the regular businessmen who fly to Mumbai frequently for business were denied tickets or had to postpone their trip. And if they had to travel, they had to shell exorbitant amounts to purchase the tickets. They alleged that action should be taken against airlines by the government and DGCA. They claimed that this looting of passengers based on the need should be treated on the same grounds of hoarding/black marketing of tickets to sell at a higher price.
