Amid surge in COVID, Srinagar- Sharjah direct flight discontinued

Srinagar: With just a few days left for the completion of the three months of its operations, the Srinagar- Sharjah direct flight service has been suspended, owing to a sharp increase in COVID19 cases.

This direct flight connecting the Valley with the UAE, was started on October 23 last year, after being flagged off by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. However, due to the challenges posed by the surge in the Omicron-led Third Wave of COVID19, the direct flight has been discontinued.

Confirming the suspension of this flight service, a representative of GoFirst Airline, the airline company which operated this service said: “Yes, the flight has been discontinued. This is due to the situation emerging as a result of COVID Third Wave”. He said the flight as of now “has been discontinued for at least a couple of weeks to come.”

“The overseas travel at the moment is badly hit due to stringent quarantine rules. It was getting very difficult now” added.

People associated with the travel industry told Greater Kashmir that the Srinagar-Sharjah direct flight of late had seen a drop in passenger load by almost 60 to 70 per cent.

A sharp decrease in passenger occupancy of the flight was seen during the last two weeks, ever since cases of Omicron-led COVID19 started being reported across the country.

It may be mentioned that the Srinagar-Sharjah direct flight, which completed two months of operations just before New Year’s eve, had been a runaway success as the flight was witnessing 90 per cent passenger occupancy at that point in time.

Notably, despite witnessing initial hiccups, the flight was operating from a longer route now but had gained popularity among the travellers.

As many as 5000 passengers had travelled to and fro on the Srinagar-Sharjah flight during the first month of its operations.

Despite all odds, the flight has gained popularity among travellers especially the trade fraternity. The flight was now taking an additional 40 minutes to reach Sharjah after Pakistan refused to allow the flights to use its air space. However, people preferred to travel on this flight.

Before the Srinagar-Sharjah flight, the first international flight from the Srinagar Airport to Dubai was started on February 14, 2009 by Air India Express, but the once-a-week service was discontinued due to low demand.

It may be mentioned that the central government on October 6 last year declared the Srinagar International Airport as a ‘major airport’. “In exercise of the powers conferred by Sub-Section (i) of Section 2 of the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India Act, 2008 (No.27 of 2008), the Central Government hereby declares the airport at Srinagar as Major Airport,” said the gazettes notification issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. This move had come just weeks after Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the Srinagar-Sharjah international flight.

Pertinently, Srinagar International Airport witnesses operations of almost 40 to 45 commercial flight arrivals every day. As per AAI data, the annual footfalls of passengers at Srinagar is expected to increase from the current 3 million passengers to 5.2 million passengers per annum.

Meanwhile, a ‘Go First’ spokesperson from Mumbai on Tuesday said the flight was “as per schedule”. “The airline has no such plans to discontinue its services on the Srinagar-Sharjah route,” he said.