JOIN USSeventy-two-year-old Ramesh, a retired bank official and his 66-year-old wife Prem Latha, living in Bangalore for a decade, could never imagine they will travel by air to meet their son in Chennai.
Besides apprehensions of sitting in an aircraft, it was the expensive air tickets that saw them prefer train journeys even if it meant long travelling hours. But that was before airfare wars began and changed the way middle class travels.
The stiff competition between low cost airlines has come as a boon for railway commuters from City, especially those travelling to Chennai, Kochi, Goa and most recently to some northern cities as well, with airfares as low as Rs 999 to Rs 1,500 being charged by the airlines.
The discounts on air tickets or flash sales as they are called by the airlines could not have been better timed after the recent steep hike in rail fares which went up to by 14 per cent for all the trains.
Win-win situation
Experts say that its a win-win situation both for the passengers as well as the airlines. While the former get to travel faster and conveniently, the airlines get money.
Sample this: A train ticket between Bangalore-Kochi is Rs 1,350 for second class AC train covering a distance of 587 km, while Bangalore-Goa train ticket costs Rs 1,425 in second class AC covering a distance of 700 km.
At the same time, the cheapest air tickets being offered by the newly launched airlines AirAsia is at Rs 1,299 for both the destinations.
Similarly, while as per new flights launched between Bangalore-Jaipur, Bangalore-Chandigarh, the tickets are priced at about Rs 2,000, the second class AC train tickets which is a 36-42 hour journey costs between Rs 4,000-Rs 5,500.
Recently, SpiceJet also announced that its pan India flights will cost between Rs 2,999-Rs 3,999. For instance, Delhi-Bangalore flight starts at Rs 3,999.
Low priced tickets
A spokesperson from SpiceJet, which has been offering fares as low as Rs 999 till recently under the Super Sale Scheme for pan India, said “the response to low priced tickets has been very good and the airlines has been able to attract many first time fliers and has thus expanded its base of customers.”
Thomas Cook Chief Operating Officer & Head Corporate Travel Indiver Rastogi said this year so far has seen a slew of discounted offers, setting in motion a domino impact of air fare wars which served to benefit both the Indian consumer and travel operators alike.
“An analysis at Thomas Cook has highlighted 2 clear positives: a significant growth in transactions upward of 40 per cent as also a quantum leap in the advance booking window — from a typical 30 to 115 days.The spin off benefits too have been significant — converting traditional troughs (low or shoulder periods) into semi-peaks; introduction of new unique bookers and non-air consumers into air travelers comprising approximately 70 per cent of our increased ticket transactions plus an impressive 38 per cent increase in advance bookings”, he added.