Domestic airlines are again wooing passengers with low fares.
What started with SpiceJet offering passengers from seven cities including Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad and Pune the chance to fly for less provided they booked by April 18 was soon followed by IndiGo matching the offer.
The low fares offered by SpiceJet, which vary from the various cities from which a passenger is taking the flight are available for travel between June 10 and August 10 this year.
For example, a SpiceJet passenger from Mumbai can connect to 30 cities including Kochi, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Chennai for fares starting at ₹2,249. Similarly, SpiceJet is offering fares starting at ₹1,849 from Pune to 10 cities including Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi and Delhi.
Travel agents claim that IndiGo has matched the fares being offered by SpiceJet although there was no independent confirmation from IndiGo. It is not uncommon for one domestic airline to match or better the low fares being offered by another airline to retain customers.
This is the seventh discounted sale offer and the second regional sale offer that SpiceJet has launched this calendar year.
On April 8, SpiceJet had come up with a low fare scheme targeting specific states, including the two southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu which offered a passenger an opportunity to fly for as less as ₹1,859 for a flight from Tirupati to either Mumbai or Delhi and for ₹1,907 for a flight from Chennai to Lucknow.
GoAir has also jumped into fray. As per details on its website, the company is offering 30 per cent discount on base fare plus fuel for travel between April 16 and September 30. It did not give out details of routes on which the discounted fares would be available.