Air Deccan to sell tickets from post offices

Bangalore: Low-cost carrier Air Deccan is all set to land and take-off from a territory that has virtually no tarmac. The budget carrier will now be present in rural India through the multitude of post offices, encouraging farmers to experience a plane journeys.
Sources told TOI that the airline is tieing up with the postal department to offer e-tickets. This is the first time that any airline is attempting such widespread reach, since post offices are present in just about every village and town.
The airline will initially leverage the 500 internet-enabled post offices in Karnataka, of the total of over 2,500 post offices in the state, to reach out to the common man. The services will be launched in Karnataka by the month end or the beginning of July. By the end of the year, the airline is hopeful of tieing up with seven other state postal departments.
The way it works will be simple. A farmer will just have to walk to his taluk post office and purchase an e-ticket, paying cash up-front. The airline's back-end support ensures that a central server monitors the daily ticketing sales.
On a daily basis the postal department will transfer the overall ticket sales to the airline. By facilitating ticket sales, post offices earn a commission similar to that of travel agents.
27/06/07 Anshul Dhamija/Times of India

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Categories: Air Deccan Jun 2007, New Jun 2007