Agra:
Flights to Agra from Mumbai and New Delhi will remain suspended till
December 31 owing to "technical reasons", meaning that no aircraft has
descended upon the city in the last two months - something that has
riled the local tourism sector.
Air India, the only airline to have a presence in the city, had cancelled all flights to the city in November. Officials had then attributed this decision to their pilots needing to attend a training program. However sources in the company said that the trip to the city was a loss-making enterprise as there were "very few takers for this route". "Routes which are not profitable are struck off," said the source, requesting anonymity.
Earlier this month, Air India had announced that the operation would resume by December 17. But that has now been postponed by a further two weeks.
When contacted, Air India station manager Sunil Parashar, said, "Pilots have come back from their training now, but flights remain grounded due to technical reasons." However, the official did not elaborate on those reasons and said no further explanation had been given to him by the management.
Tourism sector leaders are expectedly unhappy with the "erratic" flight service being provided by the national carrier. Rajiv Tiwari, president of Federation of Travel Associations of Agra, said, "We are amazed that Air India is not putting Agra, which is a major tourist centre, on priority. Such an erratic schedule harms tourists who book their tickets two-three months in advance. They are completely left in the lurch. It is not only harming Air India's credibility, but is also bad news for the local tourism sector as many tourists plan to visit the Taj Mahal on New Year's eve."
Air India flights, which started last September, operates between Mumbai and Agra via Gwalior, and then goes to New Delhi and vice versa on Monday and Wednesday.
Air India, the only airline to have a presence in the city, had cancelled all flights to the city in November. Officials had then attributed this decision to their pilots needing to attend a training program. However sources in the company said that the trip to the city was a loss-making enterprise as there were "very few takers for this route". "Routes which are not profitable are struck off," said the source, requesting anonymity.
Earlier this month, Air India had announced that the operation would resume by December 17. But that has now been postponed by a further two weeks.
When contacted, Air India station manager Sunil Parashar, said, "Pilots have come back from their training now, but flights remain grounded due to technical reasons." However, the official did not elaborate on those reasons and said no further explanation had been given to him by the management.
Tourism sector leaders are expectedly unhappy with the "erratic" flight service being provided by the national carrier. Rajiv Tiwari, president of Federation of Travel Associations of Agra, said, "We are amazed that Air India is not putting Agra, which is a major tourist centre, on priority. Such an erratic schedule harms tourists who book their tickets two-three months in advance. They are completely left in the lurch. It is not only harming Air India's credibility, but is also bad news for the local tourism sector as many tourists plan to visit the Taj Mahal on New Year's eve."
Air India flights, which started last September, operates between Mumbai and Agra via Gwalior, and then goes to New Delhi and vice versa on Monday and Wednesday.
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