Fewer Takers for SRIVANI Darshan Tickets at Tirupati Airport

TIRUPATI: There is a slowdown in passenger movement at the Tirupati Airport due to enormous rise in airfares following shortage of fuel due to the blockade at the Strait of Hormuz owing to the impasse between US and Iran.For example, the ticket prices on the Tirupati-Hyderabad route have increased from between ₹3,500 and ₹6,000 to around ₹10,000. This has prompted many travellers to shift to alternative modes of transport for reaching Tirupati on their way to Tirumala. Official data indicates that both passenger footfalls and flight operations have declined by nearly 50 per cent since April 1. The airport, which earlier handled around 4,000 passengers a day, is now seeing only around 2,000 passengers. Flight services to Tirupati have reduced from 20–24 services daily to about 10–12. As a result, the SRIVANI Trust-linked tickets issued at the Tirupati Airport for the darshan of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala have fewer takers. A significant share of tickets remains unused each day. According to sources, between April 1 and April 22, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) had made 4,400 tickets available at the airport. Only 2,980 of these tickets had been booked, leaving 1,420 unused. With demand for SRIVANI darshan tickets remaining high elsewhere, there are suggestions to shift the unutilised airport quota either to online booking or to counters in Tirumala to ensure their full utilisation. TTD releases 1,000 SRIVANI darshan tickets daily. 800 of these are allotted through online current booking at 9 a.m. They are booked within minutes of the release. Of the 200 tickets earmarked for issue at the Tiirupati Airport, more than 40 per cent are remaining unutilised each day when the TTD counter at the airport closes at 2 p.m. for same-day darshan scheduled from 4 p.m. Earlier, the entire 200 tickets at the Tirupati Airport used to be sold out by 11 a.m.- Passenger traffic and flight operations at Tirupati Airport have fallen by nearly 50 per cent since April 1, with daily footfall dropping from about 4,000 to 2,000. – Airfares on the Tirupati-Hyderabad route have surged to around ₹10,000, prompting many travellers to shift to alternative modes of transport. – Over 40 per cent of SRIVANI tickets issued at the airport by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams remain unsold dail



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