13 March,2009 08:20 AM IST | | Aditya Anand
Foreign airlines slash rates drastically for the holiday season, but offers hold good for only a few weeksu00a0
To fill empty seats in these slow economic times, international carriers operating in India are offering drastic fare-cuts with the holiday season in mind. "Promotional fares are back as far as foreign airlines go," said Deep Kalra, chief executive and founder of travel portal MakeMyTrip.
Major airlines like British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates and SriLankan Airlines have reduced fares. Others like Bahrain Air are in the process of expanding their network in India to cover tier-two sectors like Calicut.
"Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines have also slashed fares on international routes," said Regi Philip, who runs travel company Cosmos Agencies. Kalra added that airlines' tactics to woo passengers would last for only a few weeks. "They can't sustain these rates for too long," he said.
More domestic flights
Domestic carriers, on the other hand, have sought more slots at busy airports for the summer schedule (effective from March 29), poor passenger loads notwithstanding. "Airlines are seeking to increase connectivity by 10 per cent," a SpiceJet executive said.u00a0
They added that limited promotions benefit airlines since it allows them to quickly return to previous ticket prices once the demand picks up.
Foreign airliners (from Mumbai)
>>British Airways is offering between March 2 and 22, a promotional return fare to London of Rs 9,990 (down from Rs 24,000). With taxes and surcharges, this typically totals to about Rs 20,000.
>>Singapore is offering return flights Los Angeles and San Francisco is Rs 55,045.
>>Etihaad Airways has a Rs 5,999 (plus taxes) fare to London and Europe
>>Cathay Pacific's Mumbai-Bangkok-Mumbai trip comes at Rs 13,000 (with taxes)
>>A round trip to Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne will range between Rs 42,750 and Rs 43,460
Indian airliners
Domestic airliners want to increase daily services to Delhi to 730 from the current 650. In Mumbai, airlines want 710 flight slots as against the existing 680 daily flights. Airlines are certain to get more slots in Delhi from the DGCA, as the airport has a new runway that has increased the hourly flight handling capacity. But they may face a problem increasing the number of flights to Mumbai, as the airport is struggling to handle its current daily load.
The International Air Travel Association said worldwide passenger demand had fallen by 5.6 per cent in Jan-Feb as against November-December.
