3 airlines to connect Agra with other tourist centres
Vishal Sharma
New Delhi/ Agra. The tourism industry in Agra could get a major boost in the coming year as three private airlines are planning to begin regular air services, linking Agra to major tourist destinations, almost two years after the last scheduled flight touched down at the Agra airport.
With the state-run Alliance Air skipping Agra on the route from Delhi to Varanasi of the erstwhile popular air-sector spanning Delhi-Agra-Khajuraho-Varanasi and back, the local airport, equipped with all facilities befitting an international airport, has been lying deserted for some years, save for a few domestic and international charters that arrive here time to time.
The three airlines--Air Deccan, Kingfisher and a new entrant MDLR Airways--are planning flights connecting Agra to major tourist destinations like Delhi, Jaipur and Goa within the coming year.
Sources at the Agra Airport said the recent few weeks had seen hectic activity as airline operators were busy assessing the potential of Agra as an originating station for important tourist sectors.
Talking to Business Standard, a senior official at the Agra Airport said though both the low-cost carrier, Air Deccan, and the premium segment carrier, Kingfisher, had earlier expressed their desire to launch flights from Agra, they did not materialise and were constantly postponed, either for the lack of aircraft or the lack of assurance of commercial gain in running an apparently “dead” sector.
Now, he said, both the airlines had again expressed interest in beginning scheduled flights on tourist sectors including Agra as a hop-over station en route to Jaipur or Goa from Delhi, which could significantly boost air traffic on this station.
Besides, he said, another premium segment airline, MDLR Airways, which was yet to launch its services in the country, was also targeting Agra as a potential destination, linking Agra to its prospective stations including Delhi.
He said officials of the airline recently visited the Agra airport to conduct a site-survey and hopefully, the airline could begin flights to Agra in a year.
However, the local tourism industry has its own doubts on this issue. Voicing industry concerns, Agra Foreign Tourist Traders & Exporters Association Convener Prahlad Agarwal said though the beginning of three scheduled flights to Agra held a lot of promise for the tourism industry of this town, there was no assurance that these flights would not face the same fate as Air Deccan about a couple of years ago.
He said the reason why Agra had not yet developed as an important air destination was because the town was too close to Delhi and the tourism industry in Delhi was reaping great benefits from this proximity by running day-tours to Agra.
He alleged that it was the influence exerted by the Delhi-based operators that Agra had never really been able to become more than a Delhi suburb in terms of tourism, while Jaipur had successfully developed its separate identity among the tourists.i{content: normal !important}
New Delhi/ Agra. The tourism industry in Agra could get a major boost in the coming year as three private airlines are planning to begin regular air services, linking Agra to major tourist destinations, almost two years after the last scheduled flight touched down at the Agra airport.
With the state-run Alliance Air skipping Agra on the route from Delhi to Varanasi of the erstwhile popular air-sector spanning Delhi-Agra-Khajuraho-Varanasi and back, the local airport, equipped with all facilities befitting an international airport, has been lying deserted for some years, save for a few domestic and international charters that arrive here time to time.
The three airlines--Air Deccan, Kingfisher and a new entrant MDLR Airways--are planning flights connecting Agra to major tourist destinations like Delhi, Jaipur and Goa within the coming year.
Sources at the Agra Airport said the recent few weeks had seen hectic activity as airline operators were busy assessing the potential of Agra as an originating station for important tourist sectors.
Talking to Business Standard, a senior official at the Agra Airport said though both the low-cost carrier, Air Deccan, and the premium segment carrier, Kingfisher, had earlier expressed their desire to launch flights from Agra, they did not materialise and were constantly postponed, either for the lack of aircraft or the lack of assurance of commercial gain in running an apparently “dead” sector.
Now, he said, both the airlines had again expressed interest in beginning scheduled flights on tourist sectors including Agra as a hop-over station en route to Jaipur or Goa from Delhi, which could significantly boost air traffic on this station.
Besides, he said, another premium segment airline, MDLR Airways, which was yet to launch its services in the country, was also targeting Agra as a potential destination, linking Agra to its prospective stations including Delhi.
He said officials of the airline recently visited the Agra airport to conduct a site-survey and hopefully, the airline could begin flights to Agra in a year.
However, the local tourism industry has its own doubts on this issue. Voicing industry concerns, Agra Foreign Tourist Traders & Exporters Association Convener Prahlad Agarwal said though the beginning of three scheduled flights to Agra held a lot of promise for the tourism industry of this town, there was no assurance that these flights would not face the same fate as Air Deccan about a couple of years ago.
He said the reason why Agra had not yet developed as an important air destination was because the town was too close to Delhi and the tourism industry in Delhi was reaping great benefits from this proximity by running day-tours to Agra.
He alleged that it was the influence exerted by the Delhi-based operators that Agra had never really been able to become more than a Delhi suburb in terms of tourism, while Jaipur had successfully developed its separate identity among the tourists.i{content: normal !important}
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