New year rings in fare war in the skies

New Delhi: The new year is seeing its first fare war in the skies. Following GoAir’s flat fare of Rs 1,075 (including taxes and surcharge) on the Delhi-Jaipur route, another budget carrier SpiceJet is planning to slash fares to match the competition.
IndiGo has already launched a promotional airfare of Rs 500 plus taxes across all sectors, albeit for a limited period.
“We are already offering Rs 500 basic fare on various sectors. Keeping in mind the ongoing lean season, we may further slash it but no decision has so far been taken on this,” SpiceJet chairman Siddhanta Sharma said.
The airlines’ move is largely being attributed to overcapacity built up by them and people avoiding air travel due to fog-related delays.
On account of the fare war, largely initiated by the country’s largest budget carrier Air Deccan for grabbing market share, domestic carriers lost about Rs 2,000 crore in 2006-07. With consolidation taking place in the domestic skies, airfares have recently moved up.
12/01/08 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jan 2008