Port Blair, July 16: ANTCC President Shri. Rangalal Halder on Tuesday wrote a letter to the Minister of Civil Aviation Shri. JyotiradityaScindia and highlighted a few burningissues in the Civil Aviation Sector of A&N Islands.
In the letter, Mr. Halder said that the airfares between the Island and Mainland Sector are exorbitant due to which a common man can’t afford flying. He has suggested regulating the airfare in a people oriented manner and increase the number of flights so that tourism can increase in the Islands.
He added that the stretcher patient going to the mainland from the Islands have to pay approximately 2.6 lakhs per patient which a poor patient can’t afford. In this regard, he has suggested to minimize this amount to Rs. 20,000.
Further, he requested to minimize the airfare of non-stretchered patients to Rs. 2000. He also requested that a special fare be announced only for Islanders who have an Islanders Card within Rs. 4,000 travelling to the mainland and back.
He stated that “At present the airfare from Port Blair to mainland and back is more expensive than travelling to international destinations like Vietnam and Thailand. The tourists who are willing to travel to Port Blair are refraining because of this high fare and instead of travelling to Andaman and Nicobar Islands they are travelling to other international destinations”.
He further mentioned that the Inter-Island air sector also needs to be opened up. At present we have only helicopter service between various Islands. However, in the
UDAAN Scheme stations like Port Blair, Car Nicobar, Campbell Bay and Diglipur can be connected as all these have airstrips. This will not only help the local Islanders but also help to boost tourism in Diglipur and Campbell Bay.
