The administration of Andaman & Nicobar, in an attempt to bring back tourists, has urged domestic airliners to bring down their fares on the sector.
Jet Airways has already slashed its fares, while Indian Airlines is expected to announce a price cut shortly.
Lieutenant Governor of Andaman & Nicobar, Ram Kapse told Business Standard: "Since the tsunami hit the islands there is hardly any tourists coming here and tourism was one of the few industries from which locals and government were getting revenues. Keeping in mind the high fare charged by both Jet and Indian Airlines in the sectors connecting Port Blair, we had made a request following which Jet introduced a 'check fare' in the Chennai-Port Blair sector from March 2, while we have learnt that Indian Airlines is also going to slash its fare soon."
Jet Airways has drastically slashed its fares in the Chennai-Port Blair sector from first week of March, while Indian Airlines is also working on a new fare in Chennai-Port Blair and Kolkata-Port Blair sectors as it operates in both the sectors. Jet, however, connects Andamans only through Chennai.
Jet Airways has reduced its fare to Rs 6,721 compared with the normal airfare of Rs 9401, a drop of 28.5 per cent. However, the fare for business class travellers would remain same at Rs 14,451.
Indian Airlines' fares on the Chennai-Port Blair sector for a one-way journey is Rs 9,406 in the economy class and Rs 13,851 in the business class, while it charges Rs 10,191 for a one-way journey between Kolkata and Port Blair for economy class and Rs 15171 for the business class. Sources said that IA may slash its fares in the two sectors by at least by 25 per cent.
"We have drastically reduced the air fare in the Chennai-Port Blair sector as part of our marketing initiative. The check fare of Rs 6,721 is the lowest available in the sector offered by any airline company," said a senior official of Jet Airways in Ahmedabad, as Gujarati tourists contribute a high amount of revenue in this sector.
A senior official of Indian Airlines in Mumbai said, "Like Jet, we may also come out with reduced airfare for the sector." The official denied to divulge any indication on the proposed new fare.
On Friday, the Jet Airways flight to Chennai left Port Blair with just 30 passengers, none of them were tourists. "Looking at the empty aircrafts flying on both the sectors, it is wise to reduce fare at a time when schools and colleges will close for summer vacation," said an IA official at Port Blair.
An employee of TSG Travels, one of the ticketing agencies for both IA and Jet at Junglighat in Port Blair, said, "There is no business since the last week of December and we don't know how long will we survive in this condition. With the slashed fares, we may expect some good business during this summer."
If the fare remains within Rs 12,000 for a return journey ticket between Chennai/Kolkata and Port Blair even this winter, tourists would be flocking here once again."
Meanwhiile, Kapse said the administration has started working on a more tourist-friendly strategy to revive tourism, which may be announced by mid-2005.
"At this moment, our priority is to work out rehabilitation of over 10,000 families in various islands and we hope the homeless islanders would be back to their newly-constructed houses by April 15. Following this, we will start working on revival of the tourism industry," Kapse added.
