MUMBAI (TIP):
Four more airlines have joined the fare war by offering discounted fares in the domestic sector to counter SpiceJet’s latest offer. While Go Air had started a two-day sale of tickets on Wednesday, Indigo, Air India and Jet Airways came out with attractive offers on April 3, travel agency officials said. IndiGo, Jet Airways officials did not respond to calls for conformation. Air India has announced a three-day sale of discounted tickets under Monsoon Bonanza, and the offer will end on April 5. Under this scheme, tickets are available from Rs.1,499 plus taxes onwards in 108 flights to 40 destinations.

This offer is for limited seats, and the travel is valid till September 30. IndiGo has come out with a 90-day apex fare starting Rs.1,389 inclusive of base fare and fuel surcharge. Go Air’s latest offer comes over 30 per cent cheaper than normal fare, travel agency officials said. “The trend of discounted air fares is a good strategy by operators to fill up seats that would otherwise be running below optimal capacity. These sales encourage advance travel planning as people have realised that booking early brings down their overall travel cost significantly, as much as 20 per cent.

We are expecting a good demand for destinations such as Ladakh, Goa, Kerala and Jaipur, which are appealing monsoon getaways,” Neelu Singh, COO, Ezeego1.com said. SpiceJet, on April 3, said it had withdrawn the Re.1 and Rs.799 offers as per the DGCA directive. But it said: “the lowest sale fare still available as part of the sale is Rs.1,499 inclusive of fuel surcharge, but excluding taxes and fees.” “In an effort to make pricing simpler and more transparent for the benefit of customers, SpiceJet is currently in the process of removing the ‘fuel surcharge’ add-on from all of its pricing, and consolidating it as part of the base fare,” the airline added.