The competition in the low-fare flight segment is all set to intensify. Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines and Naresh Goyal’s Jet Airways are looking at East and West Asia for full service offerings, and come September, Air India’s low-fare offering too will be airborne.
Kingfisher is launching a direct flight from Kolkata to Bangkok on August 14, while Jet will begin its second daily service from Mumbai to Bangkok two days later.
Jet also starts a daily Kochi-Sharjah flight on September 1. On Friday it launched a daily flight to Riyadh from Mumbai. These services are being offered to improve yields and to maximise aircraft deployment.
“Besides catering to entrepreneurs, traders and leisure traffic, the flights will cater to MICE traffic, with excellent connectivity from Bhubaneshwar, Guwahati, Patna and Ranchi,” said Siva Ramachandran, VP (Global Sales) Kingfisher Airlines.
Air India has also announced plans to start its low-cost service, Air India Express, from September. Looks like both the companies and the fliers will be happy together again.