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A-I goes an extra mile in bid to counter BA move
Our Bureau
Mumbai, Jan 20: Another round of fare-wars has begun. After the recent British Airways (BA) decision to offer a discounted two-way fare of Rs 26,000 to the United Kingdom (UK) and 40 per cent off on other destinations for out-bound travel from India, Air-India (AI) has followed suit. The national carrier on Tuesday announced heavy fare cuts and other attractions to lure passengers during the slack-season period up to March 31.While the British Airways cuts apply to economy-class travel to the UK and the rest of the world, Air-India, going a step forward, has not only announced a deep discount on economy fares, but has also reintroduced the companion-free offer on first and executive-class tickets to the UK, Europe and the United States (US). Besides, it has offered a 45 per cent discount on excursion fares to the US. For economy class, against the BA fare of Rs 26,000 for a two-way ticket to the UK, Air-India will now charge Rs 25,000. This compares with its earlier fare of Rs 36,870 to the UK and Rs
35,880 to Europe. The excursion fare to the US will now cost Rs 30,789 against the earlier Rs 44,320. For both the airlines, to avail of the benefits, the person has to purchase the tickets by January 31 and make the out-bound journey by March 31. While deciding to take the BA fare cuts head-on, Air-India has taken serious objection to the former's use of a national event to promote its discount scheme. BA's promotional literature talks of the fare cuts as some kind of a gift on "the eve of India's Republic Day and to commemorate India's 50th year of independence". "While BA is free to fix its own fares in a free market, we object to the use of our national events by BA for the launch of its market strategy," said an AI official. "There are other ways to commemorate India's 50th year of Independence," he added.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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