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Air India is pulling out its morning flight to Delhi from Friday, leaving Ranchi with only three services to the national capital.
Continuing on a trend set by Go Air, the national carrier is learnt to have arrived at the decision because of too many empty seats on its 72-seater CRJ (Canadair Regional Jet) aircraft.
“We are not getting enough passengers for our Ranchi-Delhi morning flight. Hence, we decided to suspend services effective from April 20 to June 15,” said Pramod Bhuiyan, the area manager of Air India at Ranchi, adding that the morning flight was flying half-full, making operations unviable.
Around 10 days ago, Go Air stopped accepting reservations for its morning flight to Delhi scheduled for May 1 and later. In March, Kingfisher and JetLite withdrew all services from the state capital, effectively leaving fliers with only five flights in all — three services for Delhi, and one each for Calcutta and Mumbai-Ahmedabad (see chart).
Bhuiyan said the same aircraft would be pressed into service in a busier sector, but could not explain how the airline expected passenger figures to improve from June 15, and whether services would indeed resume on that date.
“Lack of sufficient number of passengers is a big concern,” he said, adding that those who had already booked their tickets for travel between April 20 and June 15 would be accommodated on Air India’s afternoon flight to Delhi.
Go Air, which decided to suspend its Ranchi-Delhi morning flight with effect from May 1, was using a 172-seater Boeing on the sector.
“It is no secret that we are not getting enough passengers for our morning Ranchi-Delhi flight,” said a Go Air official, not willing to be named.
The dismal state of affairs in Ranchi, now probably among the worst air connected state capitals, makes a mockery of a survey conducted in October 2010 by Airport Authority of India, which not only projected a demand for more flights to and from the capital, but also recommended international services.
During the survey, 100 randomly selected passengers were interviewed by commercial manager of Birsa Munda Airport S.K. Sharan.
As many as 52 of them said they often flew to Delhi and Calcutta from Ranchi to take international connections. Of the 100, 72 claimed to be “frequent fliers” from Birsa Munda Airport.
Trying to make sense of the decline in air passenger traffic, Ranchi-based social activist and frequent flier Sanjay Mishra pinned the blame on a very stagnant Jharkhand economy.
“A few years ago, when efforts to open new industries in the state were visible, executives of many corporate houses flew in and out of Ranchi. Now, the only fliers are individuals or government officers,” he said.
The recent hike in airfares also played a part. “The minimum price of a ticket to Delhi now is Rs 4,900, which two months ago was Rs 3,500. Little wonder then that those travelling on leisure prefer trains,” said businessman Anchal Kinger.
Yet others reposed little faith in the kind of aircraft being used for flights to and from Ranchi. For instance, some passengers said they felt unsafe while flying the Jet Airways operated ATR to Calcutta, especially in the season of Nor’westers.
However, the picture was not as bleak even two years ago, when more than 10 flights operated daily from Birsa Munda Airport.
Airport director Raju Raghavendra Kumar expressed his inability to explain the dwindling passenger traffic, stating that only the airlines concerned could do so.
