3-month sale from tomorrow: Air India flights at cost of Rajdhani fares

Sale from tomorrow till April 30; tickets need to be bought at least 20 days before departure date

The Rajdhani Express could find itself faced with stiff competition as Air India has decided to launch a three-month long price war with the former. According to the Times of India, the national carrier will be launching a sale offer from January 6, wherein it will offer flight tickets at the cost of a train journey on all routes on which the Rajdhani operates.  

The sale, the report added, will continue till April 20, 2017, with the travel period starting from January 26 — since the tickets will be available at such low fares only if they are purchased 20 days or more before the date of departure. According to the national daily, a one-way, all-inclusive, trip on an AI flight between Mumbai and Delhi would set you back by Rs 2,401, while the same journey on the Rajdhani express would cost you Rs 2, 595 for a third-tier ticket. Other airlines have also launched such offers. 

AI also has a 15-day advance purchase sale going on, which is valid for travel up to April 15, the report said. However, this sale does not provide airfares as low the new offer coming up, although it does cover destinations which the Rajdhani Express does not. Under the existing scheme, a Mumbai-Delhi one-way ticket would set you back by Rs 2,886. 

The New Year has not brought much cheer for the carrier. As reported earlier this week, Air India is in discussions with public sector banks to seek working capital loans to tide over cash paucity which also caused a delay in December salary payments to a section of employees.

Despite making an operational profit for the first time in a decade in 2015-16 at Rs 105 crore, the airline has reported cumulative losses of more than Rs 700 crore in the first six months of this financial year.