Ranchi, Nov. 14: Heralding the entry of low-cost airlines in Ranchi from November 19, the no-frills Air Deccan is selling tickets for the Ranchi-Calcutta corridor at Rs 746.

The airline is offering this low rate for the Calcutta-Ranchi-Raipur route, which has a flight twice daily ? in the morning and evening.

According to airline sources, the inaugural flight from Ranchi to Calcutta, scheduled for 10.35 am on November 19, will have a fare of Rs 1,878 while the evening flight, schedule to leave Ranchi at 20.35 and reach Calcutta 65 minutes later, will cost Rs 1,576. The ticket for the evening flight on the same day was available for Rs 1,271 till this morning, but heavy demand is resulting in the cheaper slots being sold out like hot cakes.

The earliest tickets available, when the cheapest fares for the 48-seater ATR flights were available till Monday evening, was November 24, 25 and 27, an Air Deccan representative said.

The airline has different slots with different fares, but the cheapest slot of Rs 500 basic fare has about 6 to 7 seats per flight. There are no published rates for the tickets because Air Deccan offers different categories of fares on a first-come first-serve basis.

The minimum basic fare is Rs 500, but the actual cost comes to around Rs 746 because customers also have to pay Rs 221 as taxes, besides 5 per cent of the basic fare as government service tax. Another 5 per cent commission is charged if the ticket is purchased through agents.

Sources said the directorgeneral of civil aviation has approved the winter schedule of the flight and the Airports Authority is likely to extend its approval by Tuesday.