Air India scheme triggers airfare war
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National carrier Air India’s promotional scheme offering reduced fares has triggered a price war among airlines, bringing cheers for holiday travellers, Economic Times reported.It said airfares have dropped sharply on most routes as airlines compete to woo vacationers. “Fares would have been at least 25-30% higher if Air India had not dropped fares drastically, a race that all airlines have joined,” Sunny Sodhi, Vice President (Air Product) at online travel company Yatra.com,was quoted saying.Air India had launched the promotional scheme earlier this month to make up for the crippling effects of a 10-day pilots’ strike it has emerged from. The sharp fall in ticket prices went against common belief that fares would rise steeply during the peak summer holiday season. Tickets are hard to find between May 15 and June 20 when most schools in the country are closed for the annual summer break, the report said.In contrast, tickets this season are going south. For example, a one-way ticket from Delhi to Amritsar for travel on 27 May is available for INR 1,600 now. Tickets on this route are priced INR 5,000 onwards for most of the year. Even tickets from Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram, considered a heavy tourist route, are available for INR 6,000–a 20% fall from the price last summer, the report said.
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