Book early for the best deals
Book early for the best deals is the advise that travel agents are giving to their clients who are planning to go on vacations or visiting friends and relatives in the forthcoming festival and holiday season.
By Sudipto Dey, TNN |
NEW DELHI: Airlines appear to be caught between increasing load factor and falling yield as industry gears up for peak travel season. Over 50% fresh capacity enters the domestic market over the next three months compared to same period last year. Optimistic carriers are banking on a spurt in demand for air travel with inbound, outbound and domestic travel expected to do better this season than last year. Industry players feel, given the competitive pressures, basic air fares may remain more or less similar to last year’s level, with newcomers likely to throw in some freebies. However, rising fuel surcharge continues to queer the pitch for passengers. Carriers have more than doubled fuel surcharge from about Rs 300 level to Rs 750 per ticket in the last one year.
Book early for the best deals is the advise that travel agents are giving to their clients who are planning to go on vacations or visiting friends and relatives in the forthcoming festival and holiday season. As there would be limited number of low-fare seats on offer in the peak travel months, one can get 15-20% discount on fares by booking early, points out Alok Sharma, president, Air Sahara. Despite early signs of over capacity in the industry, most players are focusing on keeping their passenger load factors high and upping market share, at the expense of yields.
“Airlines seem to have accepted that they cannot meet their operational expenses through current levels of passenger revenue and are resorting to means such as sale-and-lease buy back of aircraft to generate additional financial resources,” said Ankur Bhatia of Amadeus India, a global distribution system. Senior airline executives from Jet Airways and Indian Airlines conceded that despite growth in passenger traffic by 25-30% year-on-year, pressure on yields are likely to continue over the next three months.
Book early for the best deals is the advise that travel agents are giving to their clients who are planning to go on vacations or visiting friends and relatives in the forthcoming festival and holiday season. As there would be limited number of low-fare seats on offer in the peak travel months, one can get 15-20% discount on fares by booking early, points out Alok Sharma, president, Air Sahara. Despite early signs of over capacity in the industry, most players are focusing on keeping their passenger load factors high and upping market share, at the expense of yields.
“Airlines seem to have accepted that they cannot meet their operational expenses through current levels of passenger revenue and are resorting to means such as sale-and-lease buy back of aircraft to generate additional financial resources,” said Ankur Bhatia of Amadeus India, a global distribution system. Senior airline executives from Jet Airways and Indian Airlines conceded that despite growth in passenger traffic by 25-30% year-on-year, pressure on yields are likely to continue over the next three months.
Start a SIP with as low as ₹500 with ET Money App!
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
ADVERTISEMENT
