Booking last minute? Get ready to pay a bomb

New Delhi: If you are planning to fly at short notice by any domestic airline, get ready to pay through your nose. The massive cancellation of Air India flights has resulted in the airline booking seats in bulk for its passengers on other carriers. With their own advance bookings and AI's passengers, airlines have very few seats available off the counter. The ones up for grabs fall in the premium category and burn a hole in the pocket.
This impact of the AI strike on last minute travelers was revealed when the Directorate General of Civil Aviation sought a report from airlines on fares charged by them on Tuesday, on the first day of the AI strike. Airlines have also been asked to give a chart of the fares charged on those routes a day earlier as well so that a comparison can be made.
"The fares are on the higher side but within the price bands that airlines have to give for each route. While there has been no cranking up of fares to encash on the strike, pre-booking and the accommodation of AI passengers has meant that very few seats are left for spot selling. These are going for the highest price bands set for those routes," said an official.
Airlines have 12-14 price brackets for each route with the first few tickets on sale being the cheapest. Fares keep rising as more tickets get sold. The last few seats are sold in the highest price band. Airlines had to start publicising the fare bands on their websites after the government pulled them up for charging exorbitant rates during the Diwali last year.
29/04/11 Neha Lalchandani & Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Apr 2011