Responding to market pressures, Indian Airlines on Wednesday announced that it was revamping its advance ticket purchase system by introducing a new scheme from Saturday and withdrawing a segment of the old APEX scheme.

The new 'Smart Apex' fares, which would be marginally lower than similar segment fares currently being offered by the private players, would be effective for travel from June 14 and June 28 respectively for seven and 21 days of advance purchase, an IA spokesman said, adding it would be sold from June 7.

The IA move comes especially in the wake of new apex schemes being offered by private competitors Jet Airways and Air Sahara.

The spokesman said the current 15 day advance fare scheme would stand withdrawn from June 7, though all tickets booked under that scheme till June 6 would be valid for travel for the date of original booking.

Some sectors, like Delhi-Aurangabad offered under the earlier scheme, would also stand withdrawn, but certain new sectors like Mumbai-Vadodara, Hyderabad-Vishakhapatnam and Delhi-Chandigarh would be added in the new 'Smart Apex' scheme.

Aimed at shifting preferences, the new scheme would cater to the needs of both business and leisure travellers, the spokesman said, adding that a differential advance booking period for each category would be available under it.