India’s airlines blame each other for fare wars
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Theraging war on tariff in the Indian skies is now pitting full-service carriersagainst low-cost carriers (LCCs) with one player, Kingfisher Airlines, allegingthat the race to the bottom would leave the industry grounded.
Accordingto an Economic Times report, the airline had voiced its concerns to thegovernment through informal channels against LCCs such as SpiceJet, IndiGo andGoAir for bringing down tariffs to “unrealistic levels”, it quoted an unnamedtop company executive as saying.
Currently,a typical New Delhi-Mumbai ticket that costs around INR3,500 (US$72) in afull-service carrier, comes around INR1,000 cheaper if booked with LCCs.
“Thesefares would spoil the sector and leave the industry sick. We have taken theissue at every level,” the Kingfisher official reportedly told the newspaper.
Butbudget carriers disagree.
SpiceJetCEO, Sanjay Aggarwal, reportedly said that his airline had increased the fareby 30% some days ago, but that no-one had followed them.
“Thisforced us to revert to the same comparative fare level. As of now, fares havecome down by 50% as compared to fares a few months back. We think all theairlines are equally responsible for the recent development,” he was quotedsaying.
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