Patna, May 9: Air India today came up with a special fare offer which would give the fliers from the city an option to fly on the Patna-Delhi route at a rate which is much lower than what is charged by the government carrier in normal times.
The airlines, today, offered a current ticket from Patna to Delhi at Rs 4,495.
Passengers appeared more than happy with this rate as was evident from their response.
The airlines’ morning flight (IC 409/410) had a 93 per cent occupancy rate and around 70 per cent of the tickets were sold for the airlines afternoon flight (IC 407/408) on the Patna-Delhi route.
“On an average, the occupancy rate was hovering between 45 and 55 per cent just before the strike but the special offer appears to have hit the right chord with the passengers,” said an AI official, adding that for now the special offer has been made available till May 12.
However, he neither said the total number of seats, which the airline was offering under the special scheme, nor did he reveal whether the special offer would be extended or not.
“Such decisions are taken by our headquarters,” said the AI official.
In normal times, AI operates three flights on a daily basis on the Patna-Delhi route but after calling off the strike, the airline has restored services of just two flights.
The evening flight was not operating till Monday.
AI operates Airbus 320 aircraft with 140 seats on this route.
Terming the passengers’ response to the AI’s offer, a source in the travel business said: “AI is the only operator that operates full service flights on the Patna-Delhi route. Passengers would give it the first preference as the ticket rates are quite low.”
In normal times the ticket prices of AI economy class on the Patna-Delhi route varies between Rs 5,500 to 14,000.
Going by the current ticket rates of other airlines, the AI offer appeared to be the best. On Monday, a Kingfisher ticket on this route was available at Rs 5,934 where as that of Jet was available at Rs 4,984.
The ticket rate of GoAir Patna-Delhi flight was Rs 4,833, whereas that of IndiGo was available at Rs 6,853, aviation industry sources said.
Private operators, however, didn’t appear to be much worried about the tough competition they were facing in the wake of the AI’s special fare scheme.
“Such schemes are meant for a few days and things would return to normal soon,” said an official of a private airline, adding that Jet Airways, too, had introduced a similar scheme a year back when its pilots had gone on strike.
According to estimates, AI suffered a loss to the tune of Rs150 crore during the course of its pilots’ strike, which commenced on April 27 and continued till May 6.
One of the major demands of the pilots on strike, was that of pay parity with pilots of other national carriers.
An official of another private operator said that going by the loss the government carrier incurred during the period of the strike, it was natural for the AI management to come up with something special to make up for the loss.
One of the major demands of the pilots on strike, most of whom owe allegiance to the Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association, was that of pay parity with pilots of other national carriers.
