Air Deccan to start flights between Shimla, Delhi from April

Shimla, Feb 25 (UNI) Air Deccan will start regular flights between Shimla and Delhi from April onwards, for promoting tourism in the hilly state and providing better air connectivity between the two important places, official sources said.

A meeting between Air Deccan officials and prominent hoteliers was held recently here, in which they decided to start the flights from the tourist season.

The sources said initially, the Air Deccan would fly for four days in a week and frequency of the flights would be increased depending upon the traffic.

The airline would be operating a 48-seater aircraft on a fare of about Rs 3,000, the sources said, adding that the fares were likely to come down by the summer season when the traffic will picked up.

Over a dozen hotels, including the Oberoi-owned Wildflower Hall and Cecil, Combermere, East Bourne, Chalet Resorts and Springfields have guaranteed to provide 12 seats per flight as Air Deccan wanted a corporate assurance that the operation did not turn out to be a misadventure for them.

The sources said with the problem of a limited runway and some other technical problems, the airline would not be able to adjust more than 25 passengers on its return flight from Shimla.

Hoteliers feel erratic and unreliable air connectivity to the State's capital has been one of the major roadblocks for the arrival of high-end budget crowd to the one of the famous hill stations.

According to them, people do not mind spending and were willing to come to the town provided it took the minimum possible time on traveling.

The four-day flight of the Air Deccan would provide that fill-up, they added.

UNI