Port Blair, Dec 23: The Chartered flight service on Chennai-Port Blair-Chennai sector will commence on 03.01.2015. As per the schedule the Airbus A 320 aircraft of Air India Ltd will depart from Chennai at 0940 Hrs. from the Chennai airport and will reach Port Blair at 1155 hrs. On its return flight the aircraft will depart from Port Blair at 1235 hrs. and will reach Chennai at 1455 hrs.
Further, as per the information received from M/s Alliance Air Ltd., the flight services between Vishakapatnam-Port Blair-Vishakapatnam sector which was earlier planned on 24.12.2014 is postponed due to shortage of pilots currently being faced by the airline. On receipt of confirmation of date, the date of commencement will be conveyed.
For Chartered flight service on Chennai-Port Blair-Chennai sector the Air India Airbus A 320 aircraft will carry 144 passengers one way and each passenger will be allowed to carry a maximum of 15 kgs registered baggage and 8 kgs hand baggage free of cost.
Tickets at Port Blair will be reserved/issued by the office of the Directorate of Shipping Services, A & N Administration Port Blair.
At Chennai reservation will be done in the office of the Assistant Director of Shipping Services, A&N Administration, No.5 Rajaji Salai, Opp. Custom House Chennai-1. Procedure for reservation of tickets will be 1. Application will be made on prescribed format. The format is also available on A&N Administration’s website www.and.nic.in; 2. Only one ticket will be issued per applicant. But in case of family, a maximum of 4 tickets will be issued per application; 3. Reservation of Tickets: a) Port Blair – The passengers will be required to submit their application at the Ship Ticket Advance Reservation System (STARS) Counter, Directorate of Shipping Services, Phoenix Bay Jetty, Port Blair between 9.00 AM to 4.00 PM on all working days for reservation of tickets for travel between Port Blair to Chennai. The reservation will close at 11.00 AM on the preceding day of departure of each flight.
b) Chennai – The passengers will be required to submit their application to the office of the Assistant Director of Shipping Services, A&N Administration, No.5 Rajaji Salai, Opp. Custom House Chennai-1 between 9.00 AM to 4.00 PM on all working days for reservation of tickets for travel between Chennai to Port Blair. The reservation will close at 11.00 AM on the preceding day of departure of each flight.
c) Reservation for the flight scheduled on 3.1.2015 shall commence w.e.f. 26.12.2014. Similarly, application for reservation of tickets forforthcoming flights shall be received from the next day of publication of schedule for such flights.
Quota for Islanders and Non-Islanders: a) Out of 144 seats, 101 seats are reserved for the islanders and employee of Central Govt./PSU/Defence personnel posted in A & N Islands and remaining 43 seats are reserved for non-Islanders; b) The unsold tickets in each category (Islanders/Non-Islanders) will be made open 72 hours prior to departure of flight for utilization by both Islanders and non-Islanders at the fare applicable to them.
Cost of Tickets: The ticket cost per passenger for one way between Chennai and Port Blair will be as below. a). For Islanders on production of Islander card/ Local certificate and for employee of Central Govt./ PSUs/Defence personnel posted in A & N Islands on production of certificate issued by HoD/Head of office : Rs. 5000/- one way trip. b). For Non-Islanders it will be: Rs.11600/- one way trip.
The reservation will be done on first come first serve basis by the respective reservation offices in Chennai and Port Blair. Fare will be collected from the applicants alongwith the application and a list will be prepared and sent to Air India Ltd. for issue of formal tickets.
Passengers are required to collect the printed tickets from the respective reservation offices on the preceding day of departure of flight between 4.00 PM and 6.00 PM.
No refund will be allowed for cancellation of ticket (s), if there is no demand for the cancelled seat and it goes unoccupied due to cancellation. However, 20% cancellation charges will be recovered otherwise.
Kudos! on presenting the newsitem in simple and crystal clear way. And also thanks to Admn. for their effort and hope that these services shall also be available during summer vacations. My TWO queries are : [1] as rumored, will this ticket be eligible for claim, since a part of fare is paid from Admn. exchequer & [2] what is the frequency of service, which if known ahead of time will benefit people from far flung islands.