Flying in the rain: Airfares to fall 15%

New Delhi: The airfares for international routes will fall by about 15% in the monsoon period (mid-June to September) as compared to the peak summer months. As fewer people fly during monsoons, airlines are wooing passengers by slashing airfares.
On domestic routes, travellers have many attractive options to choose from. Jet Airways is offering special fares, lower than economy fares, on advance purchase for monsoon period. These special fares are valid till September 30. For low-cost carriers (LCCs), the load factor dips from about 85-80% in summers to 70% in monsoons. So, to attract passengers, LCCs offer tempting monsoon airfares. SpiceJet is offering two lakh seats at 99 paise (excluding taxes) for travel between 15 June and end of September.
“As compared to 80% during summer months, we expect a 70-73% load factor in monsoons, that’s why the attractive offers for air travellers,” says SpiceJet CEO Siddhant Sharma. Air Deccan, which earlier offered one lakh tickets for free (excluding taxes) for travel in months of July and August, is also planning to come with some new monsoon offers.
However some travel agents have a different view. “Unlike previous years, the fares will not see a uniform fall this year. There are only few sectors where the demand is not very high and the fares will dip,” says SOTC senior vice-president marketing Frederick Divecha.
07/06/07 Vishakha Talreja/Economic Times

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Categories: General Aviation Jun 2007