New Delhi: Fare wars in Indian skies have become intense with airlines introducing new offers now and then. Hours after SpiceJet announced its ‘Cheaper Than Train Fares’, Jet and IndiGo, too, has joined the war, slashing rates of tickets.
While IndiGo introduced a discount scheme offering all-inclusive fares starting Rs 1499, Jet Airways offered special advance purchase fares for economy class starting Rs 1,933.
Offer in IndiGo is valid on bookings made 90 days ahead of travel date and that of Jet Airways is available on tickets purchased 90 days prior for travel on or after July 1.
In a bid to revive its lost ground, SpiceJet on Tuesday announced offers with an all-inclusive one-way price starting as low as Rs 599 while international flights start as low as Rs 3499.
SpiceJet’s latest offer is for travel between July 1 and October 24, 2015 and tickets can be booked between February 11 and 13.
The fares are non-refundable, SpiceJet said in a statement.
Cash-strapped SpiceJet is trying its best to woo customers, after its management changed hands.
SpiceJet said a total of 400,000 seats are for sale under this offer, of which 100,000 are at Rs 599 all-inclusive.
Under this offer, tickets on routes like Hyderabad to Vijayawada, Delhi to Dehradun, Guwahati to Kolkata, Ahmedabad to Mumbai, and Bangalore to Hyderabad are all priced at Rs 599 only.
International flights (except Colombo, Kabul and Dubai-Ahmedabad-Dubai route) start as low as Rs 3,499 all-inclusive for Delhi to Kathmandu, with discounted fares available on most other international routes too.
“At SpiceJet we believe that flying empty seats, which are the ultimate perishable commodity, is a crime,†said Chief Operating Officer Sanjiv Kapoor said.
“These seats would otherwise go empty and be lost forever, and are priced based on the marginal cost of carrying an extra passenger, not on the average cost. Revenues from such offers contribute incremental revenue for the airline that flows directly to the bottom line,†he said.
SpiceJet is in the midst of a transition as the current promoters decided to transfer ownership and management to Ajay Singh, a co-founder who left the airline in 2010.
Singh, along with a few investors, has agreed to buy out about 58% stake held by the current promoters Kalanithi Maran and KAL Airways. The stake is likely to be transferred by April.
This is the fourth discount sale by the company after it received DGCA’s permission to resume advance bookings last month. The company, since last year, has been dishing out discount schemes in a bid to raise money.
SpiceJet was barred from taking advance bookings after the regulator found the company was battling financial issues. The restriction came when the airline cancelled around 1,800 flights in December.
SpiceJet made a loss of Rs 245.6 crore (excluding one-off expenses) for three months ending September 30, 2014, down from Rs 559.5 crore in the same period last year.
SpiceJet recently announced a new enhanced schedule with improved metro-to-metro connectivity, attractive day return options, enhanced non-metro connections and better timings.
The network and schedule will be further enhanced in the Summer Schedule starting March 29, 2015.