Hot competition on KL-Chennai air route

Petaling Jaya: With four airlines competing in the Kuala Lumpur-Chennai route, passengers are benefiting from the increasingly attractive fares.
After the KL-Delhi route, the KL-Chennai route is said to be the busiest for point to point travel from KL to India. Chennai, formerly known as Madras, is the fifth largest city in India and capital of Tamil Nadu state.
MAS, Jet Airways, Indian Airlines and Air-India Express offer direct services. Flights originating from KL to Chennai via Singapore (Singapore Airlines and Tiger Airways), Bangkok (Thai Airways) and Colombo (Sri Lankan Airlines) are also popular. Most of the carriers offer daily flights to Chennai, an almost four-hour journey direct from KL.
Jet Airways regional general manager for Malaysia and Thailand Kavin Martinus said fares on the KL-Chennai route had dropped by 20% to 30% over the past two months.
These days, one can get a return all-inclusive economy-class airfare for just over RM800 online provided you book early. But the cheapest fare thus far is from Sri Lankan Airlines at RM788 for an all-inclusive return airfare if you book direct with the airline. This fare is available till Aug 30.
Sri Lankan Airlines flies via Colombo which means you spend three hours waiting for your connection to Chennai. But if you travel on Sunday, you have to spend a night in Colombo at your own cost. However, from a traveller’s perspective, it is visiting two destinations for the price of one as you have about 16 hours before your connection to Chennai. You arrive after 3pm in Colombo on Sunday and leave for Chennai only at 7.25am on Monday.
A random check on online fares for a one-week trip from Aug 15 to 22 shows that Tiger Airways offers the best deal at an all-inclusive fare of RM807, followed by MAS at RM828. SIA’s return all-inclusive airfare for the KL-Singapore-Chennai sector is pricey at RM2,083. There was no seat availability on the dates for Indian Airlines and the offer is for business class at RM2,360 all-inclusive return airfare.
15/07/09 BK Sindhu

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

Categories: Foreign Jul 2009, Indian Aviation- In General Jul 2009