Jet Airways and GoAir have joined rival SpiceJet in lowering fares on advance bookings for travel in the next few months.
The two Mumbai-based carriers came up with the offer a day after SpiceJet, under its new promoter Ajay Singh, unveiled the first round of discounts for 2015.
Budget airline SpiceJet is offering 500,000 seats at a one-way fare starting at ₹1,499 for a three-day period ending January 31.
Similarly, full services player Jet Airways is offering return tickets on certain routes starting at ₹4,459 for travel till March 31.
For instance, flights on the Kochi-Mumbai route are starting at ₹2,999, says the company’s website.
GoAir said it will offer discounted airfares to 22 cities for travel till April 15.
Flights on the Mumbai-Delhi leg start at an all-inclusive fare of ₹2,999, according to the GoAir website.
The fourth quarter of every financial year is seen as a lean period for air travel as it is sandwiched between the peak seasons of October-December and April-June. Airlines roll out these discount fare schemes to woo customers and increase occupancy, analysts said. Air India is also expected to jump in the fray by reducing fares, they added.
Crude oil impactIndian carriers are more comfortable in offering low fares this time around because of falling prices of aircraft turbine fuel, which accounts for a lion’s share of their operational costs.
ATF prices are linked to crude oil, which have slumped nearly 60 per cent since peaking in June because of ample supplies from the US shale oil boom and the OPEC’s decision to not cut output.