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IA offers cheaper flights
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 15
Responding to the renewed fare war among domestic carriers, Indian Airlines today unveiled its instant purchase schemes for specific flights on 10 sectors, cheaper than its competitors Jet Airways and Air Sahara.

Indian Airlines announced the new scheme — Fly Select Fares — offering two levels of rates lower than the normal ones on select flights.

Interestingly, the IA has taken the initiative by announcing fares lower than those announced by Jet and Sahara. For instance, an IA ticket from Delhi to Mumbai will cost Rs 4,200 on level one and Rs 5,100 on level two, compared to Jet and Sahara’s Rs 4,250 on the lower level and Rs 5,150 on the higher level.

Tickets under the IA’s Fly Select Fares scheme need not be booked in advance and can be purchased around the date of travel based on availability. The scheme is in addition to other schemes like Positioning Flight Fares, Metro Non-Metro Add-on Fares and Flight Specific Fares on routes like Mumbai-Nagpur, Chennai-Kolkata, Mumbai-Ahmedabad and vice versa.

While Jet Airways has launched Check Fares, Air Sahara has started the Steal Fares scheme, both effective from this week. The three premier carriers earlier went into a fare war when they launched their respective advance purchase (APEX) schemes to woo upper class train travellers.

But the new competing schemes are aimed at attracting more passengers to fill the vacant seats on select flights on specific sectors.

While the IA has offered Select Fares on 10 sectors, Jet Airways is offering it on 11 and Air Sahara on six.

The IA Select Fares are Rs 5,800 and Rs 7,100 for Bangalore-Delhi sector, Rs 4,200 and Rs 5,100 for Delhi-Mumbai, Rs 3,200 and Rs 3,700 for Mumbai-Bangalore, Rs 4,700 and Rs 5,900 for Delhi-Hyderabad, Rs 5,800 and Rs 7,100 for Chennai-Delhi, Rs 2,850 and Rs 3,300 for Chennai-Hyderabad, Rs 5,700 and Rs 6,700 for Delhi-Guwahati, Rs 4,080 (one-level) for Mumbai-Nagpur, Rs 2,180 Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Rs 7,130 on Chennai-Kolkata, according to an airline’s press release.

The schemes of the three airlines would be complementary to the advance purchase (APEX) schemes and passengers need not purchase tickets in advance. The traffic on each flight would determine availability of seats under these fares on select flights.