Low airfares are back, but even the cheapest rates have been unable to lure passengers
Low airfares are back, but even the cheapest rates have been unable to lure passengers
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Low airfares are back, but there are no takers this time around. With the economic situation forcing passengers to tighten purse strings, airlines are finding it difficult to sell even their 'Re 1 tickets', which, with taxes, come up to Rs 1,700 the cheapest airfare at the moment.
But what is even more telling is the fact that tickets for today and two weeks later on the same route are currently available at the same price. When MiD DAY checked the fares on the Mumbai-Delhi sector for January 30 and February 20 on Jet Airways, JetLite, Go Air and Indigo, the prices were the same.
After a four-year boom, the economic crisis forced airlines to drop fares across most routes even high priority ones. Some slashed prices on the Mumbai-Delhi sector by almost 50 per cent between December 2008 and January 2009.
While Jet Airways chopped the fare from Rs 5,350 to Rs 2,900, the JetLite fare went from Rs 2,845 to Rs 1,650. Rival carriers Kingfisher Airlines and Air India have reduced fares by 21 to 65 per cent and 52 per cent, respectively.
The airlines had expected at least a 15 per cent increase in passengers following the price cuts, but their hopes have been dashed.
Said senior analyst with brokerage house CLSA, "With a weak economic condition, the environment is not right for low fares."u00a0u00a0
Aviation analysts with KPMG echoed this, saying, "Faced by pay cuts and cost-cutting measures, air travellers are not lured even by cheaper fares."
Trains benefit
This is in sharp contrast to long-distance trains, like the Mumbai-Goa Janshatabdi Ex-press, which are overbooked.
Said Anoop Kanuga, chairperson-western region, Travel Agents Association of India, "About 25 per cent of the business class traffic has moved to economy and the latter to the railways over the last six months."
This showed in the figures for the quarter ending December 31, 2008. The period witnessed an 18 per cent decline in domestic passenger growth.
Some tempting offers
> GoAir and IndiGo have been offering Re1 fares on certain routes
> SpiceJet has a Rs 99 base fare offer for tickets booked at least 21 days before travel.
> Jet is offering Rs 250 base ticket fares on advance booking
> JetLite has a base fare of u00a0Rs 9 this month
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