Airlines drop fares to lure flyers

June-Sept is usually a lean season as schools and colleges reopen; carriers give discounts to keep their loads high

No frills airlines have slashed fares in advance purchase offers to lure flyers and push up sales.
SpiceJet is offering one way fares from upwards of Rs 511 and Rs 2111 (excluding taxes) on domestic routes and international routes respectively in a three day anniversary sale till Thursday while AirAsia is giving 50 per cent off on return flights booked till Wednesday.
IndiGo too has dropped one way fares to little over Rs 800 on routes such as Jammu-Srinagar, Srinagar-Chandigarh amongst others and Rs 924 for Goa-Mumbai and Rs 1050 for Ahmedabad-Mumbai.
June-September is traditionally a lean season for travel as schools and colleges reopen and the carriers are giving discounts to keep their loads high. During June-September 2015 domestic carriers reported load factor of 80 per cent compared to 75 per cent in the previous year. Also the airlines especially IndiGo and SpiceJet have added aircraft and increased flights and as such fares are lower on a year-on-year basis as they are keen to keep the demand momentum strong.
SpiceJet said the discounted tickets are available for popular destinations such as Dehradun, Bagdogra, Udaipur, Jaipur, Goa, Port Blair and Kochi on domestic routes and Bangkok, Colombo, Dubai and Muscat on international routes. The discounted tickets are valid for domestic travel from June 15-September 30 and for international travel from June 1-July 20.
“We’ve started seeing a surge in bookings for the 30-90 day out period, on both domestic and international routes. Stimulating advance purchase through sales like these, works on various grounds. Firstly, it’s an opportunity to tap the large leisure segment of customers, which is strategically an important customer segment for airlines. Secondly, it helps airlines to get to predictable loads on their flights, 30-days or more, in advance. This enables airlines to potentially garner higher yields closer to departure,” said Amit Taneja, chief revenue officer, Cleartrip.
“The sale is a bit unanticipated for this time of the year and a bonanza for people who had not made any travel plans, as well as for those who prefer to travel at off-peak times. At Yatra, we have seen a big upsurge in bookings today as the sale is open only for 3 days,” said Sharat Dhall, president of Yatra.com