AI offers date-range fare schemes to woo holiday flyers

To cash in on the holiday season rush and to boost seat occupancy on its planes, Air India (AI) has introduced a ‘Date range fare’ scheme that offers tickets at comparatively cheap rates, if booked three or five days in advance. These fares are 29 per cent cheaper than those of low-cost carriers.

The date-range fare is being offered under two schemes — Date Range 3 (D3) and Date Range 5 (D5). There should be a gap of at least three days between the date of booking and the date of travel under the D3 scheme, while D5 requires tickets to be booked at least five days in advance.

Under the D3 scheme, the fare for a Delhi-Ahmedabad flight will be Rs 3,585, while it will be Rs 3,533 under the D5 scheme. This is around 30 per cent cheaper than the fare offered by low-cost carriers. Similarly, a Delhi-Lucknow flight will cost Rs 3,963 under D3 and Rs 3,897 under D5 fare, excluding service tax; a Bangalore-Mumbai travel will cost Rs 5,116 and Rs 4,957 under D3 and D5, respectively.

“This initiative, effective from April 20, is aimed at increasing travel on AI during the summer holidays and improving seat factor,” said a release from the airline. The special fares are available on as many as 141 domestic routes, nearly half of AI’s domestic network. Date-range fares are regular fares and tickets will be issued on the basis of availability at the time of booking. In addition, advance purchase excursion fares (apex fare) of 7, 14 and 30 days are also available.

The airline had also announced a steep cut in fares from May 1. Its lowest fare for the summer season is 15 per cent less than what low-cost carriers have been charging.

Air India has accumulated losses of Rs 15,000 crore. It lost Rs 2,226 crore in 2007-08, Rs 7,189 crore in 2008-09 and Rs 5,551 crore in 2009-10. It got Rs 800 crore in 2009-10 and Rs 1,200 crore in 2010-11 from the government to offset its losses. A proposed infusion of another Rs 1,200 crore in the current financial year will take its equity base to Rs 3,345 crore.