A DAY after budget carrier IndiGo opened sale of tickets for its first international flight from Chandigarh to Dubai on September 26, fares on Monday witnessed an increase. The airline officials say that the seats for the first flight are getting filled “quickly”. On Sunday, the IndiGo Airlines launched booking of direct non-stop daily flight from Chandigarh (IXC) to Dubai (DXB) from September 26. This will be the first international commercial flight in the history of Chandigarh Airport and is expected to boost the economy of the region. The airlines also announced inaugural all-inclusive return fare of Rs 9,999. According to senior IndiGo officials as of Monday afternoon, more than 50 per cent of seats for the first three flights (three days) have been booked. “We are witnessing a good response from the public. Most of the tickets have been booked by the tour operators in the city,” said an IndiGo official. After the IndiGo announced its first flight on Sunday, the fare available on its website for a round trip flight on September 26 was around Rs 13,000. On Monday, the fare for the same flight, however, crossed Rs 14,000. Similarly, round trip fare for September 26 onward flight from IXC to DXB was around Rs 9,500 on Sunday which reached up to Rs 13,000 on Monday. “There is a demand for the Dubai flights, and we are seeing an increase in the fare,” said the IndiGo official. “We are expecting to witness further increase in the Dubai flights.” The starting of international operations from the city has been welcomed by business and civil society groups, with the city residents saying that it would give a boost to the economy of the region. On September 11, 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new terminal known as “Chandigarh International Airport” located in Mohali. It was constructed at a cost of Rs 1,400 crore. City-based travel and tour operators say that they have started receiving calls from the city residents about the inaugural flight to Dubai. “The response is huge. Since this morning, we have been receiving so many calls from the public to know about fares and other offers,” Vaneet Sharma, who owns Sheetal Travels in the city, told Chandigarh Newsline. “We booked more than 12 tickets for the first flight on Monday. The fares too have started witnessing a hike.” Another city-based tour operator said that the flight to Dubai was long awaited. “People who want to travel in groups too are enquiring about the offers and other details,” said Mayank Chowdhary from Nimbus Holidays. Amrinder Pal Singh, president, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Chandigarh, told Chandigarh Newsline that a group of 72 people from the city’s hotel industry would travel in the first flight in a bid to promote tourism in Dubai. “The motive behind travelling to Dubai in the first flight is to meet people there and promote tourism of Chandigarh,” he said.
