Srinagar, Oct 25: While the air traveller influx to Srinagar has witnessed a considerable dip since the Pahalgam attack, there seems to be no signs of recovery.
As per the winter schedule, which is prepared by the airlines and issued by the aviation regulator Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), as many as 39 daily flights would operate from various destinations to Srinagar and back.
These flights have been scheduled in the winter schedule, which is effective between October 26 and March 28 next year.
The number of flights, which the airlines have slotted for Srinagar this winter, is much less in number compared to almost 50 to 60 flights that were operating during the last winter schedule to Srinagar.
In this year’s winter schedule, a copy of which is with Greater Kashmir, in terms of airline-wise flights, IndiGo would be operating the maximum 22 flights to the summer capital of J&K.
Air India Express has slotted six flights, while Air India has five, and SpiceJet has listed four flights to Srinagar, all of which would operate between Delhi and Srinagar.
Air Akasa would have two flights operating to Srinagar International Airport as per the winter schedule.
Director Srinagar International Airport, Javed Anjum, recently told Greater Kashmir that the flights of various airlines are quite less due to a low demand for travel between Srinagar and various destinations. However, the Director Airport said there are efforts to add flights for more destinations, which were discontinued due to less demand.
“There was direct connectivity to Bhubaneswar, Dehradun, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru earlier, which was stopped, but now we are trying to resume these flights,” Anjum said.
The only international flight from the Srinagar Airport, apart from the annual Hajj flights, was the Spicejet Srinagar-Dubai flight.
The drop in demand in this sector had led to the discontinuation of this flight.
The Srinagar Airport witnesses a lot of flight cancellations during the winter months, led by poor visibility, especially during December and January.
However, the upgraded landing system on the runway at Srinagar Airport has been unable to witness completion.
