Airlines hopeful of fare war bringing more travellers

Chennai: Domestic passenger traffic at the Chennai airport had dipped by a significant 15% during April to December 2008 compared to the corresponding period in the previous year (2007). This sharp decline in the number of people resorting to air travel to domestic destinations is attributed to the impact of the global economic meltdown.
However, there seems to be a silver lining in the hazy horizon as frequent reduction of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) price and ongoing fare war among airlines is expected to cut domestic fares and encourage more travellers to fly this year.
Even when the going was not all that good in 2008, airport authorities found that towards the end there was a marginal increase in the number of passengers on a month on month basis.
According to statistics compiled by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), approximately 5.08 lakh domestic passengers travelled in December via Chennai airport because of festivals and holidays when compared to 4.46 lakh passengers in November. The figures have improved and have started nearing the 6.36 lakh domestic passenger traffic the airport had recorded in May 2008, just before the recession hit the economy.
Domestic passenger traffic was at 6.36 lakh in May 2008. But it had declined to 5.60 lakh in June, 4.90 lakh in July, 4.87 lakh in August and 4.53 lakh at September . It improved slightly to 4.76 lakh in October because of puja holidays before it touched an all time low of 4.46 lakh in November.
October, November and December were peak time for domestic traffic.
Meanwhile, airlines and AAI do not expect the domestic passenger traffic to plunge any further because airlines have kicked off a fare war encouraged by a cut in Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices.
Air India is leading in the fare war. The airline has introduced Super Saver Fare of Rs 3,850 inclusive of taxes to any destination. "We have registered record sales for the fare in Chennai. The most popular destinations are Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore," said an Air India official.
03/02/09 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Feb 2009