A-I Announces Special Fares To UK, Europe And USA

A price war appears to have broken out among airline majors operating on overseas routes. Close on the heels of British Airways' announcement of a special fare of Rs. 19,000 on India-London route, Air India has also slashed fares on its flights from India to the UK, Europe and the US by nearly 25 per cent. The country's international carrier has in fact hit the lowest fare - Rs. 18, 990 - on its flights to London/Paris/Frankfurt against its previous fares of Rs. 25,000 - Rs. 28,000. Similarly, on the New York/Newark/Chicago/Los Angeles routes, Air India has dropped fares to Rs. 37,990 from Rs. 45,000 - Rs. 55,000 earlier. At present, fares of other non-stop flights operated by airlines like Virgin are around Rs. 26,000 on the India-London route. Industry observers said Air India's move is in anticipation of the emerging competition on international routes. While private domestic airlines Jet Airways and Air Sahara are scheduled to fly overseas from this month, US airline Continental is also scheduled to fly six day a week on the India-New York route starting November 15. While Jet has not announced its fare for the India-London route, speculation is rife it would hover around Rs. 19,000. Likewise, Air Sahara in alliance with American Airlines has already announced its introductory fares to Delhi from Chicago beginning November 15 at US$ 499 (around Rs. 22,000).