Price war in the sky, Deccan forced to reverse fare hike

Budget carriers IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir seem to be heading for a price war with big boys of aviation — Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Air India — in a move that would benefit low fare seekers.
A day after the three full service airlines along with Deccan increased basic fares by 10 per cent, the three budget airlines, controlling more than 25 per cent market share, resisted any such move till late Friday evening. This has forced Vijay Mallya-controlled Deccan to reverse its decision to hike fares on Friday.
“Deccan’s proposal to hike fares by 10 per cent has been put on hold so that its guests can continue to enjoy value flying,” said a spokesperson of UB group that owns the airline.
A senior SpiceJet official said no decision could be taken. Bruce Ashby, IndiGo’s CEO and president, did not take calls or respond to SMSs when this correspondent tried to contact him to get comments on any possible fare hike. Go Air officials also remained tightlipped.
Interestingly, another value carrier JetLite, a subsidiary of Jet Airways, has also not gone for any base fare hike. Instead, it has launched a discounted fare scheme to lure passengers.
01/08/08 Lalatendu Mishra/Hindustan Times

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Categories: Deccan Aug 2008, GoAir Aug 2008, Indigo Airlines Aug 2008, SpiceJet Aug 2008