Revised fare limit may bring down ticket prices, increase sales

Since the second Covid wave was contained, most people traveled within a fortnight of booking, owing to individual COVID-related restrictions imposed by states, said an airline official, traveling beyond 15 days of the booking period. Picked up since July.

“For the region to revive to pre-Covid levels, those who are traveling by trains will be tempted to fly again,” the official said on condition of anonymity. Moreover, corporate travel, which accounted for a significant portion of the airline’s passenger traffic, is also recovering at a slow pace in pre-Covid times, he said.

The Centre’s move will allow airlines to introduce special fares and promotional offers for the festive season, and enable smaller players to increase their cash flow.

This will help airlines better stimulate the market, said independent aviation analyst Ameya Joshi, founder of the Network Thoughts website. “But, if traffic picks up and there is a lot of travel during the holiday season, passengers may have to pay more (as airlines may increase fares in the absence of a fare band beyond the 15-day booking period,” he added. is),” he said.

Airline executives are also lobbying with the government to lift capacity curbs, which were put in place due to the pandemic.

As a result, the Center recently allowed domestic carriers to operate at 85% of their pre-Covid capacity from 72.5%. Airlines are expected to operate at 100% pre-Covid capacity by the end of 2021, and expect a strong recovery in air travel demand after the festive season with the pace of vaccination in India.

However, given that the number of passengers at the beginning of September was about 60% of the pre-Covid levels, with the flight count at around 67%, according to data from Networktho-ugts, airlines need to reach the pre-Covid levels. The market has to be followed. end of year.

“Airlines have been hit financially during the pandemic, so a fare war is unlikely. Therefore, demand is likely to increase in most cases,” said Mark Martin, chief executive of aviation consultancy Martin Consulting LLC.