Air India fares take Rajdhani Exp track

NEW DELHI: In a move that could reverse the trend of air fares skyrocketing at the last minute, national carrier Air India (AI) has decided to offer unsold airline

NEW DELHI: In a move that could reverse the trend of air fares skyrocketing at the last minute, national carrier Air India (AI) has decided to offer unsold airline seats on key metro routes at Rajdhani AC II-tier rates in the four hours leading to flight departure.

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This offer would apply to the Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Bengaluru and DelhiKolkata sectors, and vice-versa. At present, a Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani AC II-tier ticket costs Rs 2,870 while the Delhi-Chennai ticket is priced at Rs 3,905, Delhi-Bengaluru at Rs 4,095 and Delhi-Kolkata at Rs 2,890.

AI officials said the tickets can be booked from its website or the airport counter. “These four metros command around 50% of the combined domestic traffic. All unsold seats will be put up for sale. This morning, we gave away 14 unsold seats on the Mumbai flight at AC II-tier rates,” said an official with the airline.

Ashwani Lohani, chairman and managing director of AI, said the rationale behind the move was to provide “flying at low, affordable costs to last minute passengers”.

The move, meanwhile, gained the approval of air travellers and travel agents alike. “Last minute or spot fares in India are very expensive, unlike Western countries. This is a great move. It will force other airlines to re-think their strategy. It makes sense for them too, because an airline seat is a perishable commodity — it is lost forever once the aircraft takes off,” said Rajji Rai, the former head of the Travel Agents Association of India.

The aviation ministry had received several complaints from passengers, including MPs, on how people travelling at the last minute were being charged unreasonably high rates. The state-owned airline had earlier launched a scheme for Rajdhani first AC passengers, wherein those with unconfirmed tickets could travel by air at no extra cost — subject to availability of seats. AC II-tier passengers with unconfirmed tickets had to pay Rs1,500-Rs2,000 plus their train fare to avail of the same facility.