Fare wars end in the skies

New Delhi: In the coming holiday season, which is that time of the year when passenger traffic peaks in the country, air travellers will not get rock-bottom prices like Re 1 or Rs 99. In all likelihood, they will have to fork out 10 per cent more for tickets than last year.
Travellers in small towns, too, will have little to cheer. Unlike the last peak season, low-cost carriers are not willing to fly to newer destinations as they attempt to cut their losses and consolidate their operations.
Budget carriers SpiceJet, Air Deccan and GoAir confi-rmed that this time they will not go below the Rs-500 mark for a ticket.
GoAir is offering 150,000 tickets at a basic price of Rs 500 and above. This is not very different from the low fares that full service carriers are offering. For instance, Jet Airways' lowest fare is Rs 650.
SpiceJet executives said the fare war was over and average fares across the country would now go up.
Agrees Air Deccan CEO GR Gopinath: "Of course, we expect average fares to go up by Rs 500 or so. That will help us get into profits."
07/10/07 Anirban Chowdhury/Business Standard

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Categories: General Aviation Oct 2007