Now, lock fares in advance of actual purchase: Jet Airways

To provide greater flexibility in booking an air ticket, private carrier Jet Airways today said it would now allow its customers to retain a "selected" fare for a limited period before confirming the purchase at a later date.
The new booking feature, 'FareLock', introduced today has made the Jet Airways the first domestic airline to have such a provision, a release said.
A customer availing the option, however will have to shell out Rs 350 for a domestic ticket and Rs 700 for an international ticket to lock the available fare, it said.
FareLock is applicable for flights across the Jet Airways' network and offers customers the opportunity to plan their travel with greater ease and convenience, the release said.

"This unique feature allows guests to have greater flexibility in planning their travel while locking fares in advance of the actual purchase. It will transform the way guests book tickets using our online platforms. With the introduction of FareLock, Jet Airways has yet again raised the industry benchmark for customer experience," Jet Airways Vice President (Commercial) Guarang Shetty said.
But this comes amidst steeply falling market share in

the domestic sector. In the second quarter its domestic market share plunged by over 400 bps to 14.4 per cent from 19.5 per cent in the first quarter.
When asked about this, Shetty said, the focus is on profitable growth and not just ferrying passengers from one point to another. But he parried a query on whether all his 46 domestic routes are profitable.

He also refused to join the huge aircraft order spree by his rivals saying being Jet it does not want to rush into an expensive asset purchase game but will rather develop market by way of leasing aircraft, code-shares and strategic partnerships.
Jet at present has a fleet of 114 aircraft which includes a mix of wide and narrow bodies- the wide bodies include the Airbus A330s and Boeing 777s, while narrow bodies are the Boeing 737s and ATRs.
It has 75 Boeing 737s Max on order which are due for delivery in 2018.
This comes amidst report that the airline is said to have deferred the induction of 787s which was scheduled to get delivered by the end of next year.

"It is not that only if you place large orders that you are expanding. We keep scanning for all kind of opportunities like leasing of planes to increase our capacity. At the end of the day, its the bottom-line which matters," Shetty said.
But Shetty, refused to comment whether the airline has cancelled any of the aircraft orders already in place.
Jet's rivals, on the other hand, have not only placed large orders but also want it inducted in reasonable number over the next decade, to capture the market share.
For example, low-frills Indigo, which is the market leader with close to 43 per cent market share expects to add 18 more aircraft to its present fleet of 118 by March. The airline has placed an order for 430 fuel efficient A320 Neos.

Similarly, smaller rival Goair, has also doubled its A320 Neo orders by placing an additional 72 aircraft as part of its expansion plan. Goair has plans to start international operations by early next year when it gets a total of 20 aircraft in its fleet.
Meanwhile, Jet is also planning to add more red-eye flights to meet the growing demand of incoming international passengers who arrive during the night.
As part of its international expansion, Jet will add 11 destinations between India and Abu Dhabi and 18 destinations to Europe going forward.