Ready for a Joy ride

Mumbai, Oct. 10: Fly Calcutta-Mumbai for just six bucks this Christmas and New Year.

For the air traveller, the year has mostly been full of such treats with Air Deccan offering cheap tickets even during the peak season.

The airline opened the bookings of three lakh tickets for Rs 6 plus taxes on all its sectors on the morning of October 8 and has already sold one lakh tickets since then.

G.R. Gopinath, who heads the country’s second largest airline in terms of market share, is as excited about the ovewhelming response to the airline’s promotional offer as his passengers.

“It is our endeavour to stimulate and enlarge the market and create a trigger in consumer behaviour. The response from customers prove that we have been able to achieve that,” Gopinath told The Telegraph.

“We celebrated our third anniversary a few months back and issued 3 lakh tickets at Rs 3 for travel during the busiest months of November, December and January. All the tickets were sold within the first week,” said Gopinath.

Gopinath passionately believes that the low-cost carrier model will work in Indian skies and points to the fact that the promotional offers like Air Deccan’s has persuaded people to abandon trains for planes. The assertion, however, still leaves big questions about the viability of the model especially as Air Deccan suffered losses of Rs 340 crore last fiscal.

Ask him about the rationale for such bizarre fares and Gopinath replies, “I would rather fly full flights with some seats going at cheaper rates than have 10 to 15 per cent empty seats on them.”

“At Air Deccan, we are offering someone to fly for the first time at Rs 6. Maybe the next time, he will not be able to get such a cheap ticket but the experience will prompt him to check air fares before he buys a train ticket. And he might decide to pay Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 more and opt for a flight the next time around too. That is what we are striving for,” said Gopinath.

The airline has shown a marked improvement in its on-time performance. According to the latest figures provided by the airline, 98.33 per cent of Air deccan flights departed within an hour of scheduled time.

Last month, the airline had launched the Destination No. 1 or WOW campaign to communicate its changing profile.

“Our campaign is on full swing and we have noticed a positive change in passenger perception about the all new Air Deccan,” said Gopinath.