By Kumar Vikram
New Delhi: Have you ever thought of flying from Mumbai to Ahmedabad for just Rs 1,400, or between Mumbai and Bengaluru for around Rs 2,000 or even less?
This has now become possible as cut-throat competition in the aviation sector has led to a price war among the airlines to attract fliers.
A close look at air fare disclosed that a ticket from Mumbai to Ahmedabad is costing Rs 1,399 on Go First and Rs 1,497 on new entrant Akasa Air for a journey on September 9. IndiGo, the largest domestic airline, is offering ticket on the same route for Rs 1,609.
Similar is the case on the Mumbai-Bengaluru route with tickets available in the range of Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,200. While Akasa Air is offering a ticket for Rs 1,997 for a journey on September 9, a ticket on IndiGo is available for Rs 2,208.
The price war among the Indian airlines was expected following the removal of air fare cap by the Ministry of Civil Aviation from August 31 onwards.
Industry experts said that high competition among the airlines may lead to benefits for the fliers and many airlines may offer discounts as per demand.
Interestingly, the prices have slipped mostly on the routes on which the newly-launched Akasa Air has started its operations.
An expert said the Aviation Ministry’s move has given flexibility to the airlines in deciding air fares as they can now charge as per their policies.
The entry of Akasa Air has increased competition in the aviation sector. To attract fliers, some airlines have already started offering tickets at lower rates.
Earlier, the Civil Aviation Ministry had said that after a review of the current status of scheduled domestic operations viz-a-viz passenger demand for air travel, it has been decided to remove the fare bands notified from time to time regarding air fares with effect from August 31.
The ministry had imposed lower and upper limits on air fares after the resumption of services in May, 2020 following the initial two-month nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19. Thereafter, the limits were relaxed in a phased manner according to the improvement in air traffic in the country.
–IANS