AIRLINES ROLL OUT DISCOUNTS TO WOO FLYERS IN LEAN SEASON

MUMBAI : Airlines are offering flash sales and discounted ticket prices during the traditionally lean monsoon season, despite rising oil prices and the falling rupee as they hope to attract more passengers and make as many advance bookings as possible to feed the capacity that has been added by them in the past couple of months.

The Ajay Singh-led no-frills carrier, Spicejet, on Wednesday said it would offer tickets on domestic routes starting at ₹999 for bookings made between July 4 and July 8 for travel between July and October.

Low-cost carrier Airasia India is offering tickets for as low as ₹1,299 on key routes connecting key cities such as New Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Jaipur and Chennai.

The airline is offering international travel to Kaula Lampur from cities such as Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Hyderabad at fares as low as ₹3,999 and to international destinations such as Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya and Krabi at ₹4,299.

“As the demand has dropped during the lean monsoon season, airlines are incentivizing people to travel during the season by offering discounts,” said Sharat Dhall, chief operating officer (B2C) of travel portal Yatra.com.

“Despite the rise in fuel prices and fall in rupee (against the dollar), ticket prices this quarter are similar to the same quarter of the previous year,” Sharat Dhall said.

This, he added, is because of the capacity additions made by airlines.

Indian airlines have added several new planes and leased aircraft to their fleet this year to take advantage of the growth the market has to offer.