28 March,2011 06:42 AM IST | | Bipin Kumar Singh
No tickets available on most flights leaving Mumbai on Wednesday morning and reaching Chandigarh before the Indo-Pak clash begins
WITH the hype surrounding the India-Pakistan World Cup semi-final at Mohali reaching fever pitch, flights from the city to Chandigarh have followed the Mohali Stadium in being housefull.
MiD DAY spoke to travel agents and representatives of various airlines and found that most airlines don't have even a single flight leaving the city on Wednesday morning and arriving in Chandigarh before the match starts at 2.30 pm.
Fans will have to be content with watching the mother of all battles from the confines of their homes
"There are no tickets available for any morning flight to Chandigarh on Wednesday thanks to the match. All the flights are full and the tickets have been booked in advance.
Many people have called us and said that they are willing to pay a lot extra to get a ticket on any morning flight, but we are helpless," said Devang Sanghvi of Venus Holidays.
"No seats are available for the Chandigarh flight on Wednesday. Bookings are closed," an Air India spokesperson told MiD DAY. Air India's flight AI-864 departs from Mumbai at 10 am and reaches Chandigarh at 1.50 pm.
Jet Airways' flight 9W-319, which leaves Mumbai at 10.15 am and arrives in Chandigarh at 12.25 pm is also full. "Tickets are not available for Chandigarh on Wednesday," said a Jet Airways call centre executive.
A Go Air spokesperson said, "There has been a tremendous increase in the demand of tickets for Chandigarh on Wednesday.
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Tickets may be available on the booking websites." When MiD DAY checked, no tickets were available for Go Air's flight G8-141, which departs at 9 am and reaches Chandigarh at 11.10 am.
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Tickets on G8 172, which departs at 6.30 am and reaches Chandigarh at 8.40 am were priced at a whopping Rs 22,706.
The Go Air spokesperson said their Delhi-Chandigarh flight was also nearly full. "We have a Delhi-Chandigarh flight, which has also seen heavy booking," he said.
Solution?
The only tickets available to Chandigarh on Wednesday are the ones that reach after the match starts.
For instance, if you don't mind landing at 3.10 pm, 40 minutes after the match starts, you might consider taking the Kingfisher flight IT-3185, which leaves Mumbai at 1 pm.
2,200
No of cops from Punjab Police who will keep vigil at Mohali Stadium
At the stadium
The Punjab Cricket Association said in that all the tickets of the chair block, students' block and VIP block were sold out five days ago. The Mohali stadium has a capacity of 28,000, of which only 14,000 tickets are for the public while the rest go to the ICC, BCCI, state associations and sponsors.Pakistani officials have also booked
50 tickets for VIPs who are expected to see the match. No tickets are available for the match anymore.
Off the tweet
Was planning to go to mohali, changed my mind. Its going to be too much travel and too much security headaches to enjoy the game. Watching at home!u00a0
Siddharth
Namaskar. I am thrilled to see all d massive support for Team India ahead of d semi-finals! I'm sure we will win! Tathastu! Yashasvi bhava!u00a0
Lata Mangeshkar
What? It's almost 2:00 PM and it's still not Wednesday?!
Ranvir Shorey
We want the cup. If in the process Pak has to be defeated, like many others were, that's what we will do. That's it.
Chetan Bhagat
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I feel bad for my friends and colleagues. They are all coming down with flu and viral fever on Wednesday. Pritish Nandy
Departure: Mumbai
Arrival: Chandigarh
Flight Status: No seats
