Bangalore, July 10: Fasten your seat belts for the cheapest air ride to the metros: Rs 500 and upwards for a flight to Delhi or Mumbai.

Air Deccan’s pioneering attempt to expand the market for air travel through dirt cheap tickets could push other airlines into offering similar packages.

The no-frills Air Deccan’s maiden flight will be on the Bangalore-Delhi sector later this month. Seven Airbus A-320 aircraft will make up the fleet for the flights to Delhi, Mumbai and other metros. Three planes are scheduled to arrive next week, two next February and another two in September next year.

The airline is trying to pattern itself on Europe’s Ryanair and EasyJet and US carriers like Southwest and AirTran which offer no-frills, single-type aircraft and fast turnarounds. Like them, Air Deccan’s fares will rise as flights fill up.

“These fares are only on long-distance flights and are meant to serve customers for whom time and frills are not an issue. We want to achieve 100 per cent occupancy on these flights and will offer bookings 90 days in advance,” says Captain G.R. Gopinath, Air Deccan’s managing director.

He said his company would use an “yield management or revenue management” model to ensure every seat on board the aircraft is occupied. The seating capacity will be greater since all 180 seats are in the economy class.

The jets will have quick turnarounds and generate additional revenue through advertisements on board and outside the aircraft. “Nothing will be free except our smiles. But we will provide newscasts and entertainment on board,” he said.

Tickets can be bought over the Internet 90 days in advance. The tickets will begin at Rs 500; another 45 will be available up to Rs 5,000 and the last 90 between Rs 5,000 and Rs 8,000. The fare on other airlines is about Rs 10,300.

The Air Deccan fares are more convenient than Apex fares since the airline permits a change in schedule on paying the difference in fares. “This will certainly put pressure on other airlines, but we have a growing market here where new players could take chances. It could throw open the domestic air travel sector for healthy competition,” he said.

The airline will also expand its fleet of ATR-42 (500) turbo-props by adding five aircraft later this year. “We are going to operate three (aircraft) from Delhi to Agra, Jaipur, Lucknow and other places and use the other two for the Northeast. We plan to operate 100 flights a day by the end of the year as against 47 flights now.”

With an enhanced fleet and low-cost fares, the company has set a target of two million passengers and revenues of $120 million for the 2004-05 fiscal .

Gopinath added that Deccan Aviation, which offers chartered helicopter services, had expanded operations to Sri Lanka. “We have positioned one helicopter for tourists in Sri Lanka,” he said.