Planning · LTC · last checked 5 October 2026
LTC to the Andamans: what the rules pay for, and what they don't
The short answer
If you work for the Central Government, LTC pays for your journey to the Andamans and nothing else. It does not pay for a private operator's tour package, and that includes ours. The Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) puts the rule in one sentence: "Travel on tour packages is not allowed." Its one exception is for tours run by three public bodies, and there only the fare part can be considered — more on that below.
What LTC does cover is the fare. For Port Blair that can be a flight, in economy, even if your pay level does not normally entitle you to fly — under a special scheme that DoPT extended on 9 September 2026 to run until 25 September 2028. The ticket has to come from one of three government-authorised agents. We are not one of them, and no private tour operator is.
So this page does two things. It sets out the rules as DoPT has published them, each with its source, read on 5 October 2026. Then it says what we can do for a guest travelling on LTC — the trip on the ground, and the paperwork for it — and what we cannot. Everything here is about the Central Government's scheme; if you work for a State government, a public-sector company or a bank, see the note further down.
What LTC pays for, and the list it doesn't
The concession is for the journey. DoPT's FAQ of 1 July 2025, question 37:
"Reimbursement under LTC scheme does not cover incidental expenses and expenditure incurred on local journeys. Reimbursement for expenses of journey is allowed only on the basis of a point to point journey on a through ticket over the shortest direct route."
And DoPT's memorandum of 19 September 2017: "No daily allowance shall be admissible for travel on LTC."
On an Andaman trip, we read those two sentences as leaving these with you: the stay, meals, sightseeing and entry tickets, activities such as scuba diving, and the vehicle on the islands, airport transfers included. That list is our reading, not one DoPT prints.
Are there "LTC approved" tour packages?
Not from a private operator. The same FAQ, question 36:
"Travel on tour packages is not allowed."
"However, the tours conducted by Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), State Tourism Development Corporation (STDC) and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) can be considered and only the fare component for a fixed destination by the shortest route shall be reimbursable provided ITDC/STDC/IRCTC separately indicate the fare component and certify that the journey was actually performed by the Government employee and his family members for which he/she is claiming the Leave Travel Concession."
So the only tours the rules recognise are those run by three public bodies — ITDC, a State tourism development corporation, or IRCTC — and even there it is the fare component alone that can be reimbursed, shown separately and certified by them. If you are on one of those tours, that part is between you, the body running it and your office. A package from a private company is not one of those, and that includes ours. In the DoPT documents listed at the foot of this page we found no order that approves a private operator's package for LTC.
In practice: book the journey the way the rules require, and treat the trip on the ground as your own spend. The second part is where we come in.
Flying to Port Blair on LTC
If your pay level does not entitle you to fly
On LTC, air travel is an entitlement from Pay Level 9 upwards; the 2017 memorandum lets Levels 6 to 8 fly on official tours but not on LTC. For the Andamans a special scheme sets that aside. DoPT's memorandum of 9 September 2026 says:
"the scheme allowing Government servants to travel by air to the above-mentioned regions is extended for a further period of two years, w.e.f. 26th September, 2026 till 25th September, 2028."
The regions are the North East, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Under the scheme, an employee not entitled to fly has two ways to Port Blair:
- Fly the last sector. Economy class "Between Kolkata/ Chennai / Visakhapatnam and Port Blair." You reach that city from your headquarters by your entitled class.
- Fly all the way from your headquarters. Allowed, but "the reimbursement will be restricted to the actual air fare for the direct journey or the fare entitled under Special Dispensation Scheme, whichever is less." To settle that, the 2022 memorandum says "the Government employees must take the print-out of the concerned webpage having flight and fare details of the flight for relevant railhead viz. Kolkata/ Guwahati/ Delhi/ Amritsar/ Chennai/ Vishakhapatnam to the place of visit viz. NER or UT of J&K or UT of Ladakh or UT of A&N within the same time-slot where the direct flight has been booked for the purpose of reimbursement."
Which cities have a direct flight to Port Blair, and when, is on our flight schedule page.
Where the ticket must come from
DoPT's memorandum of 29 August 2022: "In all cases of air travel in respect of LTC, air tickets shall be purchased only from the three Authorized Travel Agents (ATAs), namely:"
- Balmer Lawrie & Company Limited
- Ashok Travels & Tours
- Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)
In August 2023 DoPT relaxed this for employees not entitled to fly, and in the same paragraph kept it for this scheme: "However, in case of Special Dispensation Scheme, the Government employees not entitled for air travel under LTC, but wish to travel by air to the intended place of visit in NE region, UTs of J&K, Ladakh, A & N, are required to book their air ticket through three ATAs only." The FAQ adds: "While booking the air-tickets through ATAs, employees must ensure that ticket(s) is/are booked under the category of “LTC” only and not “Corporate”."
A ticket bought anywhere else — an airline's own website, a travel portal, or a tour operator — is outside the rule. The 2022 memorandum leaves one door open: "In case of unavoidable circumstances, where the booking of ticket is done from unauthorized travel agent/website, the Financial Advisors of the Ministry/Department and Head of Department not below the rank of Joint Secretary in subordinate/attached offices are authorized to grant relaxation." We do not book LTC air tickets, and we would not let any private agent book yours.
Which fare, and when to book
The FAQ, question 51: "The employees are required to book air tickets at the cheapest price or at the fare 10% higher than the cheapest price available in the intended slot of 3 hours each". And question 45: "Employees are encouraged to book flight tickets at least 21 days prior to the intended date of travel on LTC, to avail the most competitive fares and minimize burden on the exchequer." A memorandum of 20 October 2023 says that on the three agents' sites "the booking of air ticket for the purpose of LTC on the website of these three authorized travel agents shall itself be a proof that the ticket booked by the individual government employee was of the cheapest fare as provided under the guidelines."
Which LTC you can use, and by when
There are two ways to point an LTC at the Andamans. One is your All India LTC, as it stands. The other is your Home Town LTC, converted under the special scheme: "All eligible Government servants may avail LTC to visit any place in NER/A&N/J&K/Ladakh against the conversion of their one Home Town LTC in a four years' block period."
- Not if your home town is your headquarters. "Employees whose Home Town & Headquarters are same are not eligible for Home Town LTC and hence, the question of conversion of Home Town LTC to travel to these places under Special Dispensation Scheme does not arise."
- Both in one block is allowed. The FAQ, question 63: "a Govt. employee can visit NER/A&N/J&K/Ladakh by conversion of his Home Town LTC and also by availing All India LTC subject to validity period of the scheme and fulfilling of other conditions."
- Fresh recruits. "Fresh Recruits are also allowed conversion of one of the three Home Town LTCs in a block of four years, applicable to them to visit NER/A&N/J&K/Ladakh."
The blocks, as they stand in 2026
| Block | Status | In 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Four-year block 2022–25 | Ended 31 December 2025 | An unused LTC can still be availed in calendar 2026 |
| Two-year sub-block 2024–25 | Ended 31 December 2025 | An unused LTC can still be availed in calendar 2026 |
| Four-year block 2026–29, sub-block 2026–27 | Running | Open now |
The table is the FAQ's questions 16 to 18 applied to this year. Question 18: "Block of four years and sub-block of two years automatically gets extended by one year ( upto 31st of December of next calendar year)." Question 17: "In the calendar year 2026: One unavailed LTC of current block year (2022-25) and one of the next block (2026-29) can be availed." Question 16: "In the calendar year 2026: One unavailed LTC of previous block year (2024-25) and one of the current block (2026-27) can be availed." (The FAQ was written in July 2025, when 2022–25 was still the current block.)
So an LTC left over from the blocks that ended last December has until 31 December 2026. Ask your office how it counts that date — by the day you leave or the day you return — before you book.
The ferry to Havelock and Neil
Most Andaman trips go on from Port Blair to Havelock (Swaraj Dweep) and Neil (Shaheed Dweep), and that takes a ferry. Two answers in the FAQ bear on it. One is the sentence on local journeys quoted above. The other is question 32:
"In cases where last part of the journey from the nearest airport/railway station is performed by private ferry, reimbursement may be restricted to the entitled Government ship fare from the nearest airport/station to the declared place of destination provided public transport/Government ferry is available in that particular area."
Our reading, which your office may not share: if Port Blair is your declared place of visit, the journey that is reimbursed ends there. If you declared Havelock or Neil and take a private ferry, question 32 points to the government ferry's fare as the most that is paid. Which applies depends on the place you declared and on your office. Ask it before you book.
If your office wants the government ferry, tell us. We book it on request, where seats are available.
Coming by ship instead
The rules provide for the sea as well. The Finance Ministry's travelling-allowance order of 13 July 2017, which the 2017 memorandum applies to LTC, sets the class by pay level for ships between the mainland and the islands: Deluxe class at Pay Level 9 and above, Bunk class at Level 3 and below, and the cabin classes in between. The order speaks of ships operated by the Shipping Corporation of India; the passenger ships sailing today are run by the islands' Directorate of Shipping Services. How your office reads that is its call.
Sailings, fares and journey times are on our Andaman by ship page. We do not book the ship.
What we do for a guest on LTC, and what we can't
We are a tour operator in Port Blair. For a guest travelling on LTC we arrange what we arrange for anyone: stays, ferries, vehicles and sightseeing on the islands. On paper, as of 5 October 2026, we do three things:
- A GST invoice for what you buy from us.
- If you ask, ferry fares shown as a separate line on that invoice, apart from stays and sightseeing.
- If you ask, the government ferry instead of a private one, where seats are available.
What we cannot do:
- Book your LTC air tickets. The rules give that to the three agents above, and to nobody else.
- Make our package reimbursable. We are a private operator, not one of the three public bodies whose tours DoPT's FAQ allows to be considered. No invoice wording changes that.
- Tell you what your office will admit. That is your office's decision. We give no assurance that any part of our invoice will be reimbursed.
Tell us at the start that you are travelling on LTC and what your office has asked for on paper. We will say plainly which of it we can give. What the trip on the ground costs is on our packages page and in the cost guide.
After the trip: the claim
The FAQ, question 35, gives two time limits. "Where advance has been drawn, the claim for reimbursement shall be submitted within one month of the completion of the return journey". And: "Where no advance has been drawn, the expenditure incurred shall be submitted within three months of the completion of the return journey." Question 71 adds one allowance for a late claim: "However, the Ministry/Department concerned with the concurrence of Financial Advisor can admit the claims within six months, if no advance has been drawn without reference to DoP&T." We would not plan a trip around that.
State government, public-sector or bank employee?
Everything above is the Central Government's scheme, the Central Civil Services (Leave Travel Concession) Rules, 1988. State governments, public-sector undertakings and banks run their own, and they may differ on every point here: what is paid, which ticket counts, which bill is wanted. We have not read those rules and will not summarise them. Ask your own office what it reimburses and what it wants on paper, then tell us, and we will say what we can provide.
LTC questions, answered straight
Are there LTC approved tour packages for Andaman?
Not from a private tour operator. The Department of Personnel & Training's FAQ of 1 July 2025 says: "Travel on tour packages is not allowed." The one exception is a tour run by ITDC, a State tourism development corporation or IRCTC, and there only the fare component can be reimbursed, if that body shows it separately and certifies the journey. For Central Government employees LTC pays for the journey; the stay and the sightseeing are your own expense, whoever arranges them.
Can I fly to Port Blair on LTC if I am not entitled to air travel?
Yes, under a special scheme that DoPT has extended to 25 September 2028. You may fly economy between Kolkata, Chennai or Visakhapatnam and Port Blair, reaching that city by your entitled class, or fly directly from your headquarters with the reimbursement limited to the actual fare or the fare the scheme allows, whichever is less. The ticket must be bought from Balmer Lawrie, Ashok Travels & Tours or IRCTC.
Until when can LTC be used to fly to the Andamans?
The special scheme runs until 25 September 2028. DoPT's memorandum of 9 September 2026 extended it for two years from 26 September 2026, as earlier memoranda did in 2022 and 2024. Whether it is extended again after that is for DoPT to decide.
Can a tour operator book my LTC flight tickets?
No. For LTC, air tickets must be purchased only from three authorised agents — Balmer Lawrie & Company, Ashok Travels & Tours and IRCTC — and booked under the LTC category. A ticket bought anywhere else, including an airline's own website, needs a relaxation that the rules allow only in unavoidable circumstances. We do not book LTC air tickets.
Does LTC cover hotels, sightseeing or the ferry to Havelock?
Hotels and sightseeing, no: DoPT's FAQ says reimbursement does not cover incidental expenses or local journeys, and there is no daily allowance on LTC. The ferry depends on the place of visit you declared. Where a private ferry is the last part of the journey to that place and a government ferry is available, the FAQ says reimbursement may be restricted to the government ship fare. Ask your office before you book.
My LTC from the 2022–25 block is unused. Can I still use it?
DoPT's FAQ says a block is automatically extended by one year, up to 31 December of the next calendar year, and that in calendar 2026 an unused LTC of the 2022–25 block can be availed along with one of the 2026–29 block. The same holds for the 2024–25 sub-block. Ask your office how it counts the date before you book.
What bill will Tropical Andamans give me for a trip on LTC?
A GST invoice for what you buy from us. If you ask, it shows ferry fares as a separate line, apart from stays and sightseeing; and if you ask, we book the government ferry rather than a private one, where seats are available. That is what we do as of 5 October 2026. It does not make our package reimbursable: we are a private operator, the Central Government's rules do not allow travel on a private operator's tour package, and what your office admits is its decision.
Do these rules apply to State government, PSU or bank employees?
No. This page covers the Central Civil Services (Leave Travel Concession) Rules, 1988. State governments, public-sector undertakings and banks have their own schemes, which may differ on every point here. We have not read them; ask your own office.
Planning the rest of the trip
- Andaman packages — the trips on the ground, and how a quote works.
- What an Andaman trip costs — where the money goes, season by season.
- Port Blair flight schedule — which cities fly direct, and when.
- Andaman by ship — sailings, classes and fares from the mainland.
How this page stays true
Written by the Tropical Andamans team in Port Blair. The rules are quoted from documents of the Department of Personnel & Training, each read on 5 October 2026: the FAQ on the LTC rules (1 July 2025); the memorandum extending the air-travel scheme (9 September 2026), which encloses the air-ticket memoranda of 29 August 2022 and 20 October 2023; the clarifications of 10 August 2023; the travel-entitlements memorandum (19 September 2017), which encloses the Finance Ministry's order of 13 July 2017; and DoPT's consolidated LTC guidelines (30 April 2024). Quotations are word for word, grammar included.
We are a tour operator, not your accounts office. Nothing here is advice on a particular claim, and where we read a rule onto an Andaman trip we have said the reading is ours; your office's reading is the one that counts. What we say we do is the business's own statement of 5 October 2026. We re-read DoPT's orders each January and before each season, the section on blocks is right for 2026 only, and the scheme's end date is due a fresh check before 25 September 2028.
An earlier page at this address, on our old website, described packages as government approved and promised reimbursement. That was wrong, and this page replaces it.
Travelling on LTC?
Tell us your dates, who is travelling and what your office has asked for on paper. We will plan the trip on the ground and say plainly what we can and cannot put on the invoice.