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Journalism of Courage
Indian Airlines today announced special reduced fares — almost half the existing fare — for passengers travelling economy class on the domestic leg of any of its international flights.
According to Indian Airlines, any passenger travelling on the Delhi-Ahmedabad leg of its Delhi-Muscat flight (IC 885) will pay just Rs 2,075 as against the existing Rs 4,000. Similarly a passenger travelling on the Delhi-Jaipur leg of IA’s Bangkok and Singapore flights (IC 877/878) will have to pay a mere Rs 960 compared to the existing Rs 2400.
Officials said this is essentially a ‘‘win-win’’ situation for both the airline and the customer as these flights normally carry very few passengers in the domestic leg.
‘‘The airline operates to many international destinations from interior cities like Amritsar, Jaipur, Trichy, Coimbatore etc. To service these flights we have to operate what we call ‘positioning flights’ from metros or major cities to these stations. It is on these flights that we are offering these reduced fares,’’ explained a senior IA official.
So, for instance, a passenger taking IC 979 (IA’s Bangkok flight to Bangalore) on the Hyderabad-Bangalore segment will have to pay just Rs 1250 while it would normally have cost Rs 4295.
In all, there are 23 such sectors where positioning flight fares will be applicable. The list, officials said, is available at any IA office and can also be found on IA’s website. However, other promotional schemes will not be applicable on these flights.
