Airlines start fare war to fill seats during non-peak season

With the peak summer travel season set to end next month, airlines have started offering heavy discounts for pre-bookings in order to fill seats during the non-peak season, with the condition that the travel dates be three months or more from the booking date.

Leading low-cost carrier SpiceJet triggered off the airfare war by offering special prices starting as low as Rs1,010 to celebrate its 10th anniversary. The airline said the booking period for the tickets is from May 19 to 21 and the journey must be undertaken between July 1 and October 15. Last month, the airline had launched a discount offer of all inclusive fare of Rs999 for those who travel light.

Rival airline IndiGo on Wednesday too started offering discounts on its network, attracting fliers with all-inclusive fares from Rs1,801. The discount is for travelling three months later. Similarly, GoAir is also offering low fares starting from Rs1,850 for travelling between July 1 and September 30.

According to airline industry insiders, flights seats are perishable and, hence, seats going vacant is loss of revenue to airlines.

"The advance bookings also bring a lot of cash for airlines, which they use it for operations," says Iqbal Mulla, former President of Travel Agents Association of India, an association of over 2,000 travel agents across the country.