AI's last-minute fares at Rajdhani A/C 2-tier level

Air India will drop fares on four key routes - Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Kolkata and Delhi-Bengaluru - four hours before the departure

Aiming to attract more fliers and achieve higher seat occupancy in its flights on trunk routes, Air India has decided to lower its last-minute ticket fares to the level of AC 2-tier of Rajdhani trains.

As part of the pricing strategy, Air India will drop fares on four key routes, Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Kolkata and Delhi-Bengaluru, for tickets booked four hours before departure.

Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani said the move is aimed at providing relief to passengers from sky-rocketing fares and also to fill vacant seats.

A Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani AC II-Tier ticket costs Rs 2,870, while Delhi-Chennai Rs 3,905. The fare of second AC Rajdhani ticket for Delhi-Kolkata is Rs 2,890 and Rs 4,095 for Delhi-Bengaluru Rajdhani.

Air India has an average load factor of 74 per cent across its domestic network while the seat occupancy on these routes is around 80 per cent, he said.

“Our objective is to fill these remaining seats as well. This can be achieved with such affordable fares. In addition, this would also help us increase our passengers’ revenue,” Lohani added.

Air India’s decision to lower fares is likely to leave competitiors jittery as they have been accused of increasing fares by 2-3 times for last-minute bookings.

Last month, Air India had floated a scheme to fly unconfirmed passengers of Rajdhani trains at fares matching with the AC first class ticket prices.