THE sudden rise in coronavirus cases across the country has put fear in the minds of the air travellers resulting in mass cancellation of ticket bookings. A large number of people who had planned to travel by air are now cancelling their tours. “Travel agents are uncertain of their future business prospects. Ticket cancellations are a big blow to our business. If things do not improve in the near future, most of the travel agents will be out of business,” said Rajesh Agrawal, Chairman of TAAI (Travel Agent Association of India) Nagpur Chapter while speaking with The Hitavada. The fear of being infected with the new omicron variant of COVID-19 while travelling has resulted in cancellation of majority of air tickets. The people who had booked tickets in December are coming to offices only to cancel their tickets. From the past two years travel agents are struggling to keep afloat their business operations. The Government should support the travel agents who have been hit hard due to COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Suspension of international flights and various quarantine regulations at the airports in country have taken its toll on the business operations of travel agents. Business has significantly dropped to a low and new bookings are not coming, he said. He said that many flights at airport are being cancelled due to a drop in ticket bookings. About four flights were cancelled from Nagpur airport due to low number of ticket bookings two days ago. Most of the domestic airlines have announced 20 per cent cut in flights. The situation has gone from bad to worse and currently travel agents are facing difficulty in paying expenses like salary, rent, electricity bills and bank loan interest. Agrawal said, “Government should provide a relief package and support us. The Government should pay salaries of the employees apart from taking other measures.”