Jaipur–Jaisalmer summer flight discontinued after heavy losses; tourism stakeholders to bear deficit under loss guarantee agreement

JAISALMER: An experimental effort to maintain air connectivity to the renowned tourist destination of Jaisalmer during the off-season has come to an end after suffering heavy financial losses due to an acute shortage of passengers.The Jaipur–Jaisalmer flight service, launched on May 3 to operate twice a week during the summer months, has been discontinued after just over six weeks of operation. The service completed its final flight on June 14.According to officials, the airline incurred losses running into several million rupees, with the total deficit from 12 flight rotations estimated at around Rs 9 million (Rs 90 lakh).The flight was introduced as a unique initiative by the district administration and local tourism stakeholders, who have long demanded year-round air connectivity for Jaisalmer.To encourage airline operations during the lean tourism season, local tourism businesses signed an agreement with the airline, offering a 100 percent “loss guarantee” to compensate for any operational deficit caused by low passenger occupancy.However, the experiment failed to attract sufficient travelers during the peak summer period. Between May 3 and June 14, the service operated a total of 12 rotations. During this period, only 147 passengers arrived in Jaisalmer from Jaipur, while 126 passengers flew from Jaisalmer to Jaipur.

This translates to an average of approximately 11 passengers per flight on a 46-seat aircraft, making the route financially unviable.Officials said that the airline’s financial statement for the first two weeks of operations alone highlighted the extent of the losses. For the initial eight flight sectors, operational expenses amounted to Rs 33.68 lakh, while revenue generated was only Rs 3.13 lakh.Based on these figures, the airline sought compensation of Rs 30.55 lakh for the first fortnight itself.

Applying the same trend to all 12 rotations, the cumulative loss is estimated to have reached nearly Rs 90 lakh.Local tourism entrepreneurs had shown considerable enthusiasm for maintaining activity at Jaisalmer Airport even after the end of the winter tourism season. Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), they agreed to fully compensate the airline for losses resulting from low seat occupancy. However, the severe summer heat and the resulting decline in tourist arrivals significantly affected passenger numbers, turning the ambitious initiative into a costly undertaking.Jaisalmer sub-divisional magistrate Saksham Goyal said that the twice-weekly air service was introduced on an experimental basis during the summer season but could not succeed because of the extreme heat and lack of tourist demand.He confirmed that, under the viability-loss arrangement agreed upon in the MoU, the losses incurred by the airline would be compensated by the tourism stakeholders involved in the agreement.Meanwhile, Anil Jajoria, director of Jaisalmer Civil Airport, stated that the flight service operated by Alliance Air between Jaisalmer and Jaipur has been suspended for the time being due to operational reasons.The development is being viewed as a setback for efforts to establish year-round commercial air connectivity to Jaisalmer, a destination that remains one of India’s most prominent tourism hubs during the winter season but continues to struggle with visitor numbers during the intense summer months.