Mumbai: The Union civil aviation ministry's decision to permit unbundling of services earlier this year has got carriers trying out ever newer ideas. SpiceJet on Monday became the first airline in India to offer passengers the option of paying extra to get a chance to secure empty seats next to theirs.
Called Empty Seat Option or ESo, the facility is on offer on SpiceJet's domestic flights and subject to availability. The way it will work is this: if there are vacant seats on a flight, the flyers who have availed of ESo will get preference in sitting next to them. In flights with no empty seats, the option does not hold; and in flights with too many of them, even passengers who have not paid for ESo could be lucky and get to sit adjacent to an unoccupied seat.
SpiceJet was not clear on Monday about the cost of ESo. The feature's booking is being handled by a website called Option Town, which manages the option for several foreign low-cost airlines, such as Air Asia, Vietnam Airlines, Estonian Air and firefly.
13/08/13 Times of india
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Called Empty Seat Option or ESo, the facility is on offer on SpiceJet's domestic flights and subject to availability. The way it will work is this: if there are vacant seats on a flight, the flyers who have availed of ESo will get preference in sitting next to them. In flights with no empty seats, the option does not hold; and in flights with too many of them, even passengers who have not paid for ESo could be lucky and get to sit adjacent to an unoccupied seat.
SpiceJet was not clear on Monday about the cost of ESo. The feature's booking is being handled by a website called Option Town, which manages the option for several foreign low-cost airlines, such as Air Asia, Vietnam Airlines, Estonian Air and firefly.
13/08/13 Times of india
