Air India Kanpur-Delhi fare slashed

Air India has reduced the fare of its Kanpur-Delhi flight.

With this reduction in fare, passengers can now fly from Kanpur to Delhi at a fare almost equal to that of Rajdhani express, the Times of India has reported.

Before, the fare cut, Kanpur-Delhi economy class tickets would cost Rs 4075, which has now been slashed to Rs 1975.

Air India decided to cut the Kanput-Delhi fare, after it noticed that the 48-seater Air India plane was, on most occasions, under-occupied and was proving to utterly non-profitable.

When the Kanpur-delhi flight was launched in 2007, the flight occupancy was about 70-75% with 30-35 seats being booked daily.

But, lately, only 2-3 passengers would use the service and there were times when the planes would have to take off without any passengers on board.

“It’s a conditional cut and we aim to attract air passengers through the offer,” the Times of India quoted a senior official as saying.

But the offer will be valid only if the tickets are booked before one month of the reservation date.

Meanwhile, the Economic Times has reported that Air India has slashed prices on 35 sectors, by as much as 70 per cent, as of April 21, 2009.

The Economic Times has quoted a senior official as saying, “The reduced fares have no hidden conditions like being for a limited offer period.”

Passengers will have to buy their tickets 10 days in advance through the Air India website, travel agents or the company’s sales offices.

“These reductions in fares are mainly on tier-II routes connecting Mumbai and it is over and above our offer on the summer fares,” the official added.

The one-way Mumbai-Mangalore fare has been cut by 60 per cent, from Rs 5,875 to Rs 2,494.

Air India has decided to cut the fare to increase passenger load and its bottomline, despite the 6.7 per cent aviation turbine fuel hike in the second week of April, 2009.