Travellers rush to cash in on airlines’ big-ticket sale

Industry sources said that leisure and regular travellers and corporates had made bulk and advance bookings, pushing ticket sales to astronomical levels. Tushar Srivastava reports.

There’s been a bumper response to the big-ticket sale by airlines.

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Industry sources said that leisure and regular travellers and corporates had made bulk and advance bookings, pushing ticket sales to astronomical levels.

With the government making it clear on Wednesday that it would in no manner intervene and regulate fares, Air India, the only airline, which had stayed away from the price wars slashed fares across all sectors and said it will continue to offer fares at discounts of up to 50% till February 26 for travel up to September 30.

Yatra.com, one of the country’s biggest online travel firms, said its sales had shot by as much as five times since Tuesday.

“The business has been superb for the last two days. Our sales have jumped by as much five times,” said Sharat Dhall, president (online), yatra.com.

“The response has been tremendous and the amount of traffic we are witnessing on our site is huge,” said Dhall. “The offer has given an opportunity to people who would usually not travel by air to do so. Also, a number of leisure travellers who have planned their holidays in advance have picked up tickets.”

However, many sectors did not offer the discounted fares. “No tickets are available at the discount prices they had publicised. We are getting tickets for a little less than what price was before the offer,” said Rajji Rai, chairman, Swift Travel International Ltd.

Industry sources said that the sale would help Jet Airways raise an immediate cash buffer of up to Rs 600 crore.