New Delhi: The domestic aviation sector could be seeing the start of yet another fare war, with airlines beginning to offer sharp discounts ranging as high as 58 per cent on tickets booked even a day prior to the departure date.
While the August-October period marks the lean season between the summer and winter schedules, the sharp discounts being offered currently by carriers on tickets bought close to the travel date marks a departure from the traditional practice of airlines offering cheap tickets for bookings done a month and three weeks before the departure date, apart from the strategy of offering promotional fares.
Industry analysts feel that the drop in fares are an attempt by airlines to fill up empty seats at a time when the recovery in the economy is still sluggish and the fact that passengers loads during the last few weeks have been sharply low. A source in a private airline said that Jet Airways and Air India have started off this current fare war and low-cost carriers were being forced to match the sharp cuts in fares.
03/08/13 Mihir MIshra/Indian Express
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While the August-October period marks the lean season between the summer and winter schedules, the sharp discounts being offered currently by carriers on tickets bought close to the travel date marks a departure from the traditional practice of airlines offering cheap tickets for bookings done a month and three weeks before the departure date, apart from the strategy of offering promotional fares.
Industry analysts feel that the drop in fares are an attempt by airlines to fill up empty seats at a time when the recovery in the economy is still sluggish and the fact that passengers loads during the last few weeks have been sharply low. A source in a private airline said that Jet Airways and Air India have started off this current fare war and low-cost carriers were being forced to match the sharp cuts in fares.
03/08/13 Mihir MIshra/Indian Express
