Air India succumbs to fare war with selective offer of 1 mn seats

Air India has also succumbed to competitive pressures and announced one million seats on low fares, which are actually slightly less than even Jet Airways’ fare offer announced yesterday.

So the airline will offer one million seats at lowest fares beginning at Rs 2,150 for a one way ticket compared to Jet Airways’ lowest fare of Rs 2,250.

[caption id=“attachment_633418” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Low fares. PTI[/caption]

The fares will be offered in four slabs according to the distance and the highest would be Rs 3,700 for over 1,400 km against Jet’s Rs 3,800.

A senior Air India official said that unlike the fire sale of other airlines, Air India’s low fares would be available only on a 7-day advance purchase, which means if you were to decide to travel on these fares today or tomorrow, they are not available.

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AI has put in another condition: it will have what it calls “blackout” periods which means weeks where traffic is traditionally high and during these weeks such low fares would not be available.

The official quoted above said these fares are valid for travel till 30 September and bookings begin from this evening.

So its clear that Jet’s offer, which is being termed “suicidal” by some industry veterans, is aimed at collecting cash for the airline in a short time period since it closes on 24 February whereas Air India’s offer is not just selective but also more spread out.

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Already, other airlines like IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir have matched Jet Airways’ fares since yesterday.