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Domestic airlines have slashed ticket prices to boost loads as demand remains subdued this year. August being a lean month for air travel carriers, Air India, Jet Airways and GoAir have dropped fares to attract flyers.
On Saturday, Jet Airways announced it was selling 700,000 tickets at 15-20-per-cent discount on a seven-day advance purchase offer.
Jet Airways sells 45,000 tickets daily on domestic routes and the 700,000 seats make about 10 per cent of its domestic capacity. Under the scheme, one-way tickets excluding taxes and airport fees are available from Rs 1,777 (on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Delhi-Jaipur, Pune-Indore routes). One-way tickets on the Mumbai-Delhi, Pune-Delhi and Chennai-Kolkata routes are on sale for Rs 3,777. The sale is valid till Friday, for travel from Saturday.
According to a source, the discount fares have been introduced as the loads are five-seven per cent lower this season than those in August last year. "This will also help attract train travellers. Last August, all airlines except IndiGo had reported loads less than 70 per cent."
Jet's campaign comes after Air India launched discount fares on flights with less loads. These fares, available for sale three days prior to the journey, are up to 20 per cent lower than the usual.
"With this, we will be able to compete with other low-cost airlines," an Air India executive said.
The Wadia Group's GoAir is also offering up to 50 per cent off on fares through various schemes. The discount is valid till the end of September. In an earlier interaction, GoAir CEO Giorgio De Roni had told this newspaper that the airline had slashed fares to boost demand.
Deep Kalra, founder and chief executive officer, MakeMyTrip, said, "The discounts this time are definitely steeper, as load factors are very low. Traffic started falling July onwards and is expected to be under pressure for some time. Normally, October onwards, we see an uptick in demand. Pre-booking starts much earlier. But given the situation right now, it is hard to tell when things will look up."
Neelu Singh, chief operating officer of Ezeego1.com, said: "Airlines will resort to such tactics to fill inventory during the lean season. Travellers can use this opportunity to book low fares and go on short breaks. We have noticed that such promotions help in creating demand and we see this as an opportunity to market our holiday packages."
