Airlines offer festive discounts on domestic, international routes

NEW DELHI: Airlines are offering heavy festive discounts ahead of the Christmas and New Year celebrations on select domestic and international routes. Some of the offers include one-way and return travel for both business and economy class. Jet Airways is offering up to 30 per cent discount on some routes, while GoAir has announced up to 50 per cent low fares on its flights to a particular destination.

Here are the details:

Jet Airways: The full service carrier announced up to 30 per cent discount on its domestic and international fares as part of its limited period festive season sale offer. The tickets for the nine-day Christmas sale offer can be availed till midnight of Tuesday (January 1, 2019), Jet Airways said in a release.

The sale is valid for both one-way and return journeys for both business and economy class of travel with a travel validity effective January 7 for international travel, it said.

GoAir: The no-frills airline is offering 50 per cent discount on tickets for its flights to Phuket for individuals going to attend the Thailand Yacht Show next month. The show is to be held from January 10 to 13.

In a release, the airline said it has partnered with Thailand Yacht Show and RendezVous 2019 to offer 50 per cent discount on tickets for flights to Phuket. GoAir is the first airline to start direct flights to Phuket from India.

SpiceJet: The airline had announced eight new direct flights from Hyderabad connecting Kolkata, Pune and Coimbatore, starting January 1 next year. The Gurugram-based airline will also add another six new seasonal flights and frequencies from Bengaluru to Kochi, Port Blair as well as Bagdogra in West Bengal, the airline said in a release.

These new flights are scheduled to be introduced between January 5 and February 28, SpiceJet said. With the additions, the airline will operate 41 direct flights from the capital city of Telangana to various destinations, the release stated.

The airline has also announced special promotional fares starting at Rs 2,699 on Hyderabad-Kolkata route and Rs 3,199 for travel on Kolkata-Hyderabad route.

The promotional fares for Hyderabad-Pune flight will be Rs 2,429 and Rs 2,209 for the return journey, it said.

The special promotional fares for Hyderabad-Coimbatore route flights starts at Rs 2,809, while the return journey on the same route will cost Rs 2,309, the release added.

Meanwhile, domestic air passenger traffic rose 11.03 per cent in November, with Indian airlines carrying 116.45 lakh passengers during the month. The growth rate is one of the lowest in the last four years and the same stood at 13.34 per cent in October.

Airfares in the fast-growing Indian market are 10 to 15 per cent lower than breakeven levels for airlines, a Boeing Co executive said, as the planemaker raised its long-term jet order forecast for the nation to a record despite market challenges.

Major Indian carriers Jet Airways, IndiGo and SpiceJet were all in the red in the September quarter as high oil prices, a weak rupee and intense price competition eroded their margins.

(With inputs from agencies)