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Jet, Sahara not to match IA fare cut
Bipin Chandran in New Delhi |
March 24, 2004 09:00 IST
Jet Airways and Air Sahara said on Tuesday that they would not cut fares on the sectors where Indian Airlines on Monday announced rock-bottom fares on its positioning flights.
Positioning flights are those, which come back to a hub after a day's flight for maintenance or leave a hub after maintenance to connect other destinations.
The airfare announced by the state-owned carrier for its positioning flights was about 50 per cent lower that the normal airfare on a routine flight in those sectors.
According to private airline companies, it is a marketing gimmick by Indian Airlines and the sectors on which the positioning flights operate do not account for a sizeable traffic.
"We do not see this as significant move and we are not going to respond to it," said UK Bose, chief executive, Air Sahara.
"We do not expect any movement of traffic to Indian Airlines as a result of this. We are not bothered about it," added a senior Jet Airways official.
The private airlines also argued that positioning flights do not form a part of Indian Airlines' normal timetable, which could work against the acceptance of these flights.