IA, Jet hike Apex fares

The new schemes, which are all valid till March 31, have been announced with an eye on increasing revenues during the peak winter season.

Air Sahara, the third major player in the domestic aviation business, does not propose to revise its Apex fares any time soon.

Under the Apex schemes, customers can avail of discounts on air fares only if they book their tickets in advance.

For Indian Airlines flights, the percentgae of increase in Apex fares has been higher under the 21-day scheme (D-21) than the 7-day one (D-7).

On the Delhi-Mumbai sector "" the busiest route in India "" fares under the D-21 scheme have been raised by over 10 per cent to Rs 3,705, while they have been hiked 3.38 per cent under the D-7 plan to Rs 5,500.

However, fares on routes like Delhi-Chennai (Rs 4,500 under D-21 and Rs 7,800 under D-7) and Delhi-Kolkata (Rs 3,800 under D-21 and Rs 7,200 under D-7) have been subjected to a higher percentage increase.

Jet has also made similar changes in its Apex fares. Fares in the Delhi-Chennai and Delhi-Kolkata routes have been hiked by a higher margin compared to the Delhi-Mumbai sector, where tariffs have been raised 7.65 per cent to Rs 4,500 under the 15-day Apex scheme and 5.55 per cent to Rs 3,600 under the 30-day scheme.

Jet also said tickets under the new scheme could be reissued for any change in flight or date of travel on the payment of Rs 250, provided the changes are made 21 days ahead of the journey. Jet's new 21-day scheme will be available on 59 sectors.

Indian Airlines announced the discontinuation of the D-7 Apex fare scheme on sectors like Mumbai-Calicut, Chennai-Mumbai and Kochi-Mumbai.