Andaman & Nicobar Administration plans to Charter flights to improve accessibility to the islands

Port Blair: In order to make Andaman Islands more accessible to tourists from mainland and that too at affordable rates, Andaman & Nicobar Administration is planning to charter flight to operate between mainland and Port Blair. Talking to media at the Raj Bhavan, Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar, Lt. Gen. (Rtd) A K Singh said that the Administration is in “advanced level of talks” with Air India to commence a Charter operations from Kolkata and Chennai. While 50% of the seats will be reserved for the islanders at a subsidized rate, remaining 50% will be offered to tourists, again at a subsidized cost.  “Air fare is a big dampener for tourism growth.  Despite our continued persuasion, the fares haven’t come down. That is why we are now thinking  of introducing charters,” LG said.


The LG blamed the LTC segment and big travel consolidators for the high air fares to the island. The Administration is in talks with various private airlines to commence operations to the island.  Air India is also expected to commence international operations between Delhi and Phuket via Port Blair Read news in full .21/10/14 P Krishna Kumar/Hospitality Biz India.com