After a period of costly regional fares to make up for rise in fuel prices, several airlines in India are rushing to offer heavy discounts on domestic routes to rope in more customers.
Budget carrier IndiGo, for example, is offering select domestic flights for as low as Rs 899, and plans to add 18 new routes to its summer special. Featured routes include Chennai-Bengaluru (Rs. 999), Delhi-Jaipur (Rs. 1,099), Goa-Bengaluru (Rs. 1,099) and Delhi-Dehradun Rs. (1,299). The fare for Bagdogra-Guwahati flight is Rs 899, its cheapest on offer.
Meanwhile, SpiceJet has also launched its own set of discounted deals, including Rs 1,189 for Delhi-Jaipur and Rs 1,642 for Mumbai-Ahmedabad; Go Air has on offer Rs 1,699 for Ahmedabad-Pune and Rs 1,950 for Delhi-Jammu, ET reported.
Last month, AirAsia India, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Malaysian airline group AirAsia, launched a number of new flights on domestic routes, offering special discounts and a summer sale. For instance, a one way ticket from Bhubaneswar-Kuala Lumpur-Phuket is on offer for Rs 5,775 until May 14, according to its website.
The hike in fares earlier this year affected airline traffic with monthly growth slowing to 18 per cent compared to 20 per cent from last year, Balu Ramachandran, head of air and distribution at Cleartrip, told ET.