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NEW DELHI: Pilgrims who still haven't booked themselves to be at the PrayagSangam in Allahabad for the once-in-144-year-old MahaKumbh may find salvation a tad too expensive. For, trains to the holy city are overbooked for a month or so, and the flight tickets to the nearest major airports — Lucknow and Varanasi — are going for double the normal rates. Flights from New Delhi to Allahabad and nearby cities like Varanasi, Kanpur and Lucknow cost anywhere from Rs 8,400 to Rs 14,455 around important Kumbh dates like February 10, 15, 25 and March 10. Normally, these tickets start from around Rs 4,000 especially if booked a week in advance, but not when the Kumbh is around.The Kumbh Mela, billed as the world's largest gathering, began in Allahabad on January 14 and will go on till March 10. "Train bookings around important Kumbh dates were difficult even a couple of months in advance. At present, AC 1, 2 and 3 of all main trains to Allahabad, Varanasi, Kanpur and Lucknow are booked out," said a travel agent, who didn't want to be named. The abnormal spurt in airfares is attributed to the heavy advance bookings, especially by foreign tourists."We must not forget that the Mela attracts a large number of foreigners, who book a major chunk of air tickets around the Kumbh a year in advance. Travel agents structure special tours around the event and sell Kumbh deals at obnoxious prices to them," Sunny Sodi, COO (Corporate Travel) and Senior VP (Air Product) of Yatra.com, told ET.

Allahabad has a small domestic airport, the Bamrauli Air Force Base, around 12 km from the city, which has only limited services. The other two nearest airports are the Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport in Varanasi (150 km) and Amausi International Airport in Lucknow (200 km) and airfares to these cities are shooting through the roof. Allahabad doesn't have good air connectivity even during the Kumbh. Only Air India operates an 80-seater daily flight from Delhi which is not sufficient enough to cater the demand during Kumbh, said STIC Travel group director Richa Goyal Sikri. "The airfare is in the range of Rs 6,000-15,000 (one way) based on the flight load. This used to be approximately Rs 3,500 before Kumbh," she said.

On February 4, SpiceJetBSE 0.22 % started a Delhi-Allahabad flight with a seating capacity of 78 and a promotional fare between Rs 3,500-5,000, which has brought some relief to pilgrims and tourists.

And then there are a few state governments pitching in with their own efforts. For instance, Airconnect, a joint venture of Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation and Ventura Airconnect, is operating special flights to Allahabad in February and March, said STIC Travel's Sikri. Airconnect offers a daily flight from Indore, Bhopal and Khajuraho to Allahabad with one-way fares of Rs 10,070,Rs 8,811 and Rs 2,304, respectively.