Rush to escape to cooler climes, Sikkim, Darjeeling, Kashmir even Europe being top draws

 SpiceJet's Kolkata-Srinagar, via Delhi, return fare is around Rs 25,000, usual fare is around Rs 18,000

SANJAY MANDAL  |  TT  |  26.04.24 : The city is sizzling and Kolkatans are scurrying to cooler places.

Sikkim, Darjeeling, Kashmir and even Europe are the top draws, said tour operators and airline sources.

SpiceJet flights to Pakyong, the only airport in Sikkim, are going chock-a-block and the average fares are more than double the usual, said airline sources. “The flights to Pakyong are full this week and next week. The average return fare is around Rs 24,000 now, compared with Rs 9,000 in other times,” said a source in SpiceJet.

The airline’s Kolkata-Srinagar, via Delhi, return fare is around Rs 25,000. The usual fare is around Rs 18,000, the source said.

IndiGo airline’s website showed a one-way fare of around Rs 11,500 from Kolkata to Srinagar on its direct flight this weekend. When the flight was launched, the one-way inaugural fare was less than Rs 8,000.

“Traditionally, we would see high demands for seats to cooler destinations between the middle of May and the middle of June because of the summer vacation in schools. But this year, the demand is very high even now as many last-minute bookings are being made,” said an official of an airline.

Last Sunday, A.K. Dutta, a retired army officer, was sitting in his club with his friends. “We were discussing that the weather had become unbearable and so decided to go to the hills,” Dutta said on Wednesday.

They will go to Kalimpong on a four-day trip on Sunday.

“We decided last Sunday and booked tickets for four elderly couples on Monday,” Dutta said.

Kolkata-based businessman Raj Shekhar went to London last Sunday with wife Shalini Srivastava to attend the graduation ceremony of their daughter Muskaan. The ceremony was on Tuesday and the couple had planned to return this week.

“But because of the exceptional heat in Kolkata, we deferred our return. Now we will be returning on May 8,” Shekhar said on Wednesday from London. “My wife wanted to extend the stay because she said the heat in Kolkata was unbearable.”

Shonu Khettry and her husband Rishi are eagerly waiting for a visa interview to visit Switzerland next week. The want to visit their daughter Natasha, who studies there. “My daughter is showing me snowfall on video calls, while the condition is unbearable in Kolkata. As soon as we get the visa, we will finalise the travel plans. We have already bought tentative tickets,” she said.

Tour operators said there is a big rush to hill destinations in India and neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bhutan.

“People are making group bookings for short holidays in Sikkim, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and other summer holiday destinations. We had not seen such a rush during this time of the year even before the Covid pandemic,” said Raktim Roy, managing director of Dolphin Travels.

Most people are going on a week-long vacation to beat the heat, he said.

“There has been a surge in demand for cooler destinations in India and outside. Travel to even central Asian countries like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan have picked up, along with Nepal and Bhutan. With IndiGo having started flights from India to these central Asian countries, fares have come down drastically, making the destinations an instant hit...” said Amin Asghar, director A and A Travel Zone and senior vice-president, Skal International, Kolkata.