Air-India Express to trigger fare war in SE Asian routes

Mumbai: State-owned Air-India's low-cost arm Air-India Express is planning to offer fares below Rs 10,000 for a round trip to these destinations.
The move is expected to trigger a rate war in this segment, which is one of the busiest routes for air traffic from India after the Gulf region. At present, the rates offered by full service carriers in these routes, including India's Jet Airways and Singapore Airlines, are about Rs 20,000 for a return trip.
The Air India Express flights to these destinations will take off from Chennai on May 16. An Air-India spokesperson said, "The fares to south-east Asian destinations are likely to be 50% less than the current fares offered by full service carriers."
With Air-India Express offering low fares, other airlines will also be forced to slash their fares by at least 10%, according to SOTC (a Kuoni Travel Group company) senior vice president Frederick Divecha.
12/04/06 Neelasri Barman/Financial Express

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