Local airlines in India cut basic fares

After the silence of four years the domestic airline companies in India attracting the customers by offering cut in airfares. The same seen was felt in year 2005 of dropping the airfares. The cut in basic fares once again become the price war in the sky between various airline flights services.
The slump in airfares is nearly across all the routes in the country. For example, a Delhi-Mumbai Jet Airways ticket now costs Rs 2,900, a sharp drop from Rs 5,350. JetLite, Jet Airways’ subsidiary, is offering a Mumbai-Delhi ticket for Rs 1,650, all inclusive, against the earlier price of Rs 2,845.
Budget carriers, such as GoAir and IndiGo, are offering fares in the range of Rs 2,175 to Rs 2,700, including taxes, for the Mumbai-Delhi sector.
It is believed that the step of dropping the airfare is taken as the fall in the prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF), which accounts for more than 45% of an airline’s costs. In the recent five months, ATF prices have dropped by about 60% to Rs 30,457 per kilolitre.

Although airline fares have been reduced but the chances of increasing additional traffic and revenues are not bright as the whole world is suffering world wide economic slowdown. This slashing of airfares by domestic airlines of India forced to think about dropping the airfares by various foreign carriers. Singapore Airlines has slashed economy fares by a whopping 52% to flights to Singapore and other Southeast Asian destinations
from India. London-based British Airways and German carrier Lufthansa reduced fuel surcharges by more than 30% from India to London flights. Emirates is offering return fares of Rs 20,990 and Rs 39,990 for London and New York, respectively, from India.