Air India enters price warfare

Air India Wednesday joined the price war, launching a short-term sales promotion scheme.

According to Air India, the tickets under the scheme can be booked from February 27 to March 1 for travel between March 29 and Sep 30, 2014.

"The scheme covers 115 flights and offers approximately 30 percent discount on the fare levels," the national carrier said in a statement.

Industry insiders said these promotions have fuelled summer-holiday breaks for larger groups such as families, since a higher proportion of group bookings was observed compared to single-passenger bookings.

"These sales are helping to create new demand for air travel and rejuvenating the market. Airlines are able to improve forward-loads and gain yield predictability by filling up seats earlier," said Rajesh Magow, co-founder and chief executive-India, MakeMyTrip.

Other players said the airlines are also bracing for the entry of AirAsia India and preparing for a competition on the price front.

"Airline operators are looking to fill their seats that are currently running below optimum capacity. But additionally, with AirAsia soon entering the scene, current operators are preparing for the tight competition in prices," said Jackson Fernandez, managing director, Wego.com.