Book 16 days before travel for low airfares

Book 16 days before travel for low airfares

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:20.09.2021

You will now be able to get domestic air tickets at lower rates for travel beyond 15 days of booking. Fare bands will apply only to domestic tickets booked within 15 days of travel, instead of 30 earlier.

This apart, airlines can now operate more domestic flights — up to 85% of their pre-pandemic capacity instead of the earlier 72.5%. This is the maximum capacity deployment allowed during the pandemic as before the second wave, the allowed highest domestic capacity was 80%.

The winter schedule comes into force next monthend and the industry is hoping that if Covid remains under control, airlines may be allowed to return completely to pre-Covid domestic capacity.

The aviation ministry on Saturday allowed airlines to sell domestic tickets based on market forces of demand and supply — without adhering to fare bands — for travel beyond 15 days of booking. This means, a person booking on October 1 can book a ticket for travel after October 15 to be offered rates by airlines that are lower than the prescribed minimum for that domestic route as also higher than the allowed maximum under the fare bands. Called rolling fare bands, the earlier time period was 30 days which has now been cut by half to 15.

This also means that fare bands put in place in May last year when domestic flights were allowed to resume after a two-month suspension during the lockdown, will continue for some time. Senior airlines industry officials expect fare bands to remain in place till 100% of pre-domestic capacity is allowed.

Low-cost carriers account for almost 80% of domestic air travel. The thumb rule for budget flyers, in pre-Covid times, was book early and get low fares. This way airlines get cash flow and early birds get low fares. The shorter window for which domestic fare bands are applicable will allow airlines to offer lower than the minimum fares for not so early birds.

You can fly to Sindhudurg from Oct 9

Mumbai:

From October 9, direct flights to Sindhudurg will operate after the airport’s inauguration by state authorities. IRB Sindhudurg Airport Pvt Ltd received an aerodrome licence to operate its newly-built greenfield Sindhudurg airport at Chipi. Director-general of civil aviation (DGCA) issued the license on Friday night, an IRB spokesperson said. The project has a cost outlay of approximately Rs 800 crore and an operating and cost recovery (concession) period of over 90 years. TNN