Low cost airline IndiGo on Wednesday put as many as 10 lakh seats up for sale for all-inclusive fares starting at Rs 899 under the Diwali sale offer. The offers that started from October 24, will be contined till October 26. IndiGo in an statement said that the fares are all-inclusive.
The low-cost carrier is offering 10 lakh seats for a travel period between November 8 and April 15, 2019, it added.
This is the third time in the current fiscal that IndiGo, which posted its first quarterly loss at Rs 652.1 crore in the quarter ended September, has put 10 lakh or more seats up for grabs at heavily discounted fares.
Flying into the red, IndiGo's parent InterGlobe Aviation on Wednesday posted a loss of Rs 652.1 crore in the quarter ended September as the no-frills airline was battered by spiralling costs and intense competition.
This is the first time that the carrier has posted a quarterly loss since getting listed in November 2015. IndiGo, the country's largest airline with over 40 per cent market share, reported a profit of Rs 551.6 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing. The domestic aviation sector, one of the fastest growing in the world, is grappling with rising fuel prices and inability of carriers to hike fares as competition remains intense.
IndiGo's co-founder and interim CEO Rahul Bhatia said profitability was significantly impacted by costs pressure from the increases in fuel price and the depreciation of rupee as well as competitive fare environment. The airline's total income rose over 18 per cent to Rs 6,514.2 crore in the second quarter ended September 2018. In the same period a year ago, the total income stood at Rs 5,505.6 crore. During a post-earnings call with analysts, Bhatia said IndiGo was forced to keep the fares low because of the intense competition posed by peer group.
Meanwhile, Jet to start Singapore-Pune flights from Dec * Naresh Goyal-owned cash strapped Jet Airways on Wednesday announced the launch of a direct flight service to Singapore from Pune, starting December 1. Besides, it will also add a third service from New Delhi to Singapore to cater to the increasing demand on the route, Jet Airways said in a release.
The Mumbai-based airline has also announced special inaugural return economy class fares at Rs 23,999 and Rs 66,999 for the business class for the new flight.
These inaugural fares are applicable for journeys commencing from December onwards, it said adding customers can also avail of special fares to onward destinations such Brisbane, Jakarta, Denpasar-Bali, Phuket, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Nadi, Perth, Surabaya, Sydney and Darwin via Singapore.
(With inputs from PTI)