Aug. 05--MUMBAI -- International airlines have reduced fares by as much as 20% to fill seats during the August-October lean season. On Saturday, Jet Airways (India) Ltd, the nation's second-largest airline by passengers carried, also cut ticket prices by more than half for bookings before 9 August, a move that some of its local rivals may follow.
Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd, Air India Ltd, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines Ltd, SilkAir (Singapore) Pvt. Ltd and Sri Lankan Airlines Ltd are some of the airlines that are offering special and promotional fares to woo passengers, tour operators said.
Regi Philip, who runs Mumbai-based travel agency Cosmos Agencies, said international airlines are offering tickets at least 15-20% cheaper to poach passengers from other airlines.
"International airlines introduced lower fares during this period as we are in the off-peak period and they have large inventory. Leisure travellers take advantage of such attractive fares as it attracts a set of leisure customers who do not go on vacation during the peak summer rush," said Neelu Singh, chief operating officer of Ezeego One Travels and Tours Ltd, which runs online travel website Ezeego1.com.
Virgin Atlantic extended promotional fares of its business class to 10 August. The Richard Branson-controlled airline is offering Mumbai-London fare at Rs.155,550 one way for flying between August to September. It has introduced special economy class fares for booking till 9 August. Under this, a passenger will get Mumbai-London fares for Rs.51,000 for flying between September to December.
Sri Lankan Airlines is offering 15-20% cheaper fares labelled under a so-called hot-price promotion category to woo passengers to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur via Colombo, according to travel agents.
Qatar Airways had also introduced special economy fares. Mint has reviewed the circulars of these foreign airlines.
Last week, Emirates announced that passengers travelling in economy class from India to Dubai will be allowed to carry an additional 10kg of baggage for a limited period. Passengers in economy class will now be able to carry a total baggage allowance of 40kg instead of the 30kg offered previously. This offer is valid for booking from 1 August to 30 September and for travel during the period 10 September to 30 September.
The promotions by foreign airlines come at a time when domestic airlines are also cutting fares.
According to Jet Airways website, the airline will sell 700,000 seats on its domestic flights starting Rs.1,777.
There are three slabs -- Rs.1,777 for short-distance flights (for example Mumbai-Ahmedabad), Rs.2,777 for medium-distance flights (Mumbai-Bangalore) and Rs.3,777 for long distance flights (Mumbai-Delhi).
Philip of Cosmos Agencies said most of the domestic airlines are flying with less than 50% seat occupancy.
"Airlines are struggling to get decent seat occupancy. Fares are astonishingly low. Jet Airways is trying to stimulate the market. Other carriers such as SpiceJet Ltd, IndiGo Airlines Pvt. Ltd and Air India would be forced to do so," Philip said. "They are trying to fill in as many empty seats they can."
India's air passenger traffic fell 1.84% in June from a year ago, after having recovered in April from months of decline.
Domestic airlines carried 5.01 million passengers in June, compared with 5.1 million a year ago, according to data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India's aviation regulator.
The summer quarter of April-June is peak travel season as schools close for holidays.
"Until mid-October, it is a lean season for airlines," a Jet Airways executive said, requesting anonymity.
State-run Air India has also come up with promotion fares starting Rs.2,350 for advance bookings.
"These specially discounted fares are aimed at the low season when demand is low and it helps people to get a cheaper fare. Especially with the long weekend coming up mid-August, this will generate more demand and stimulate the market," Singh of Ezeego1.com said.
A spokesperson for IndiGo, the largest airline by passengers carried and run by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, said the airline is already offering lower fares.
The spokesperson of SpiceJet, second largest low-fare airline, said it will not introduce promotional fares.
Copyright 2013 - Mint, New Delhi
