Lean months, swine flu send fares south

New Delhi: Coinciding with the traditionally lean travel months, the swine flu scare has spelt lower fares, in several instances almost 50 per cent lower than the peak fares this year on metro routes. A Delhi-Mumbai trip currently costs less than Rs 2,500 on a low-cost carrier, half of the amount the flyer shelled out in February earlier this year. The discount is applicable only to round trips, and not to one-way fares. It’s mostly the low-cost carriers who are offering competitive fares. But they insist fares might pick up once in festive season.
On one of the busiest air traffic routes, Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi, SpiceJet and GoAir are offering a round trip in less than Rs 5,000 while Indigo and Jet Lite charge slightly higher. Despite the attractive fares, the outlook is grim for the second quarter as yields are likely to be 20 per cent lower than in the previous quarter, splashing red on balance sheets, says Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA)
With festive season just a month away, Go Air is the first one to announce special all-inclusive fares beginning at Rs 1,500 for travel till March 2010 for tickets booked within next week. Not all airlines are, however, as enthused to offer lower fares in the festive season.
As the domestic flyer shifts from full-service carrier to the no-frills, the full-service airlines are busy re-jigging their business models and adding capacity to their low-cost arms. Jet Airways’ no frills economy service — Jet Konnect — will soon start operating on several domestic routes as it tries to tap the lower fare segment and increase yields.
21/08/09 Smita Aggarwal/Indian Express

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Aug 2009