Now, dirt-cheap airfares to beat monsoon blues

Domestic airlines may be bleeding owing to intense competition. But that is not stopping them from offering tickets at throw-away prices at 99 paise, Rs 225 or even Rs 0. With monsoons round the corner, the airlines are busy announcing monsoon offers to woo passengers to travel during the rainy season, which is considered as the lean period for air travel.

The budget carriers in the country such as Air Deccan, GoAir and SpiceJet have offered free tickets to passengers. The full service carrier, Jet Airways is also joining the monsoon offer bandwagon to fill space during the lean season.

"Essentially, these (cheap fares) are tactics to stimulate the passengers to travel more. The rainy season is the worst time for airlines. Therefore, the airlines are selling seats in advance by offering cheaper fares," say industry analysts.

A Jet Airways executive pointed out that most of the airlines will woo passengers in the rainy season. But Vijay Mallya, chairman and CEO of Kingfisher Airlines begs to differ. "We are not here to drop fares. We are charging the highest fares in the country and have the highest yield at Rs 4,200. All airlines are bleeding by offering tickets at throw-away prices," Mallya said.

According to estimates, the domestic airlines posted a net loss of about Rs 2,000 crore during the last financial year.

Jet Airways is joining the monsoon dhamaka by offering special advance fares in 40 sectors including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Goa. The airlines' monsoon fares are priced lower than the normal economy or check fares. Under the scheme on offer, the passengers can book flights on certain domestic routes 10, 15, 20 and 25 days before the travel date, and the journey should be undertaken by September 30. For instance, the passengers will get fares as low as Rs 1000 on the Mumbai-Bangalore route if the booking is done 25 days in advance.

Air Deccan, the largest budget carrier, has already announced a mega offer of one lakh tickets at Rs 0, excluding taxes and surcharge. These tickets are available for sale across all sectors and all its 350 flights for travel between July 1 and August 31. The airline connects to 65 airports across the country, including all metros.

SpiceJet is offering two lakh seats at a special price of 99 paise for two or more passengers travelling together. This would be open for two weeks (May 22 to June 6) on all its 14 destinations.

The Wadia Group-promoted low cost airline, GoAir has come up with a special GoCelebrate offer for the festive season begining from July to September 2007, with tickets priced at Rs 225 for all of its destinations.

GoAir operates 59 flights a day across 11 destinations in the country covering Srinagar, Jammu, Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Goa, Bengalooru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kochi.

GoCelebrate has prices starting at Rs 225 for short-haul flights on sectors such as Mumbai-Goa and Ahmedabad-Delhi and Rs 525 for long haul flights such as Mumbai-Delhi, Mumbai-Jaipur, Bangalore-Mumbai and Mumbai-Chennai.