NEW DELHI -- Budget airline carrier SpiceJet is trying to attract more passengers with a discount scheme even as it remains cash-strapped and promoter Ajay Singh looks for investors to save the airline.
Days after the aviation regulator allowed it to open fresh bookings, SpiceJet launched its discount scheme Wednesday starting at Rs.1,499 for one way advance booking on all direct flights.
The airline is offering 5 lakh seats through the new discount scheme. Bookings have to be made from Jan 28 to Jan 30, and are valid for travel between Feb 15 and June 30, 2015.
The scheme is valid on all direct flights on SpiceJet's domestic network.
The airline said that such offers are an integral part of the LCC (low cost carrier) pricing model. The offers are meant to sell in advance at attractive prices seats that would otherwise be expected to go empty, thereby improving revenues.
"Unlike a bar of soap that can be put back on the shelf and sold later, an airline seat is the ultimate perishable commodity. Once the aircraft takes off, that empty seat's revenue is lost forever," said Sanjiv Kapoor, chief operating officer, SpiceJet.
The airline is in the middle of a re-structuring programme after going through financial turbulence in recent times. Singh and a consortium of investors has promised a total of Rs 1,500 crore investment in the airline by April this year. The plan was cleared by the Ministry of Civil Aviation last week, and the money is expected to be raised in instalments.