A month after they cut fares 25-30 per cent, the country's leading airlines have realised that the surge in passenger traffic they had expected has not happened.
The move is expected to give a major relief to Air India, which suffered a huge financial loss of around Rs 491 crore.
Faced with a lean season when occupancies drop 15 to 20 per cent, airlines are trying to lure fliers with cheaper fares. If you time your travel well (midweek, off-peak hours), you can still fly many sectors in the country for Rs 2,525.
A Kathmandu-bound Jet Airways flight with 111 people on board was on Monday halted minutes before take-off from the IGI Airport in New Delhi after a bomb threat.
The revised policy, which has come into effect since last week, means passengers who are looking to skip the long queues at airports will have to shell out a fee for it. For IndiGo, the lowest seat fees is Rs 100 while for SpiceJet it is Rs 99.
Only 9% of passengers on such airlines are first-timers: CAPA survey.
On Thursday, all airlines (except for Air India) reduced fares on key domestic routes such as Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Bengaluru, Mumbai-Bengaluru, among others.
With monsoons round the corner, the airlines are busy announcing monsoon offers to woo passengers to travel during the rainy season, which is considered as the lean period for air travel.
The revised structure will help to keep airfares down, when airlines already face a triple challenge of rising crude oil prices, rupee depreciation and constrained airport capacity.
Kamra was banned by India's largest airline for six months on Tuesday for allegedly harassing Goswami on the Mumbai-Lucknow flight. SpiceJet, GoAir and Air India also imposed a similar ban on Kamra without specifying any period.
The catch is you will have to book your flight by August 27 and travel between September 25 and January 15, an airline spokesperson said, adding the offer is applicable on all direct, via and onward flights on SpiceJet's domestic network.
In the 42 months since Air Deccan became a credible and stable challenger to the erstwhile ruling triumvirate of Jet Airways, Indian Airlines and Sahara, the new entrants have garnered about 44 per cent of share of the market.
According to the figures for January, budget carriers alone -- such as SpiceJet, GoAir, IndiGo, apart from Deccan -- have 34 per cent share of the market. A year ago, the figure was only 20.8 per cent.
Wadia group, the promoter of budget airline GoAir will invest $30 million with SIA Engineering, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, for maintenance, repair and overhaul services in the country.
Fares to key routes such as Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad may shoot up 80 per cent
Indigo, Air India, Spicejet, GoAir, Jet Airways and Vistara put Diwakar Reddy under no fly list.
Some airline companies suggest that the fare difference vis-a-vis the Indian Railways is offset by shortage of seats.
Spicejet receives maximum complaints regarding refunds
you plan your holiday in advance, you may get a free air ticket
Beginning February 15, Air Deccan will introduce new services.
Kamra allegedly heckled Goswami, the editor of Republic TV, on IndiGo's Mumbai-Lucknow (6E5317) flight on Tuesday.
will introduce new flights between Delhi-Pune from August 22.
GoAir will introduce new flights between Mumbai-Hyderabad, Delhi-Bangalore and Delhi-Goa from August 22.
Airline pares capacity on routes like Mumbai-Delhi and Mumbai-Bengaluru on weekends, uses freed up slot at Mumbai to fly Amritsar, Patna, Varanasi
No-frills airline SpiceJet on Wednesday launched yet another round of limited-period low fare offers to fill its seats for travel between July and September when air travel generally slumps.
Civil aviation ministry to monitor flash sales and discount schemes: Source
Air travel penetration in India remains small in global terms, with 0.04 annual trips per capita against 0.3 in China and more than two in the United States.
Cutting across party lines, chief ministers and others leaders urged the people to follow the self-imposed curfew from 7 am to 9 pm, noting that "social distancing" was key to breaking the chain of infection, as the number of coronavirus cases rose to 283 after 60 new cases were detected on Saturday, the highest so far in a day, and states like Maharashtra, Odisha and Bihar imposed partial lockdown till month end.
Bids to be evaluated according to guidelines by the civil aviation ministry, following which a buyer will be selected. Transfer of control to the buyer to be effected by June-end.
Kerala has recorded 24 cases including two foreign nationals.
Air India launched a short term 'SpringSale' of up to 50 per cent on all domestic sectors of its network, which is up for sale till Friday and valid for travel between February 21 and April 15.
West Bengal government has 1.2 per cent stake in BAPL.
Stressful work schedules and limited growth opportunities are taking a toll on a large number of senior professionals in airlines.
No frills airlines SpiceJet and IndiGo have merged fuel surcharge with the base fares, saying it would simplify the prevailing fare structure.
Besides, another 350-odd flights -- both arriving and departing -- were delayed between 28-51 minutes (till 7 pm), as per the live flight tracking website Flightradar24.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram has supported Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh's suggestion on doing away with a rule that bars Indian carriers from flying abroad unless they complete five years of service and own a 20-aircraft fleet.
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