Zero airfares are back

With prices of air turbine fuel (ATF) coming down almost 50% since August, low-cost airlines are raining cheap fares on passengers. Even the full service carriers have announced substantial cuts.

On Friday, Indigo offered fares from Re1-Rs 99 while Kingfisher announced a fare cut of 21-65% on different routes.

Indigo’s Re1 (base fare) ticket is now available for sectors like Mumbai-Delhi, Delhi-Chennai, Kolkatta-Imphal, and has to be booked 21 days in advance. So, a Mumbai-Delhi ticket that was available for Rs5,000 and above even on the low-cost carriers, is now available for Rs2,926.

“We are happy to announce Re 1 to Rs 99 base fares on majority of our sectors. Lately, there has been a reduction in ATF prices and we want to pass that benefit to passengers immediately in the form of this latest fare scheme,” said Indigo president
Aditya Ghosh.

After the latest cut, Mumbai-Delhi ticket on Kingfisher Red is available for Rs 3,828.
The base fare of full service carriers such as Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Air India starts from Rs 745, while that of low-cost carriers like GoAir, Spicejet and Indigo it is Rs 0 upwards. Taxes add up to Rs 3,300 or more.

After the drop in ATF prices, Air India (AI) took the lead in cutting fares in the range of 39-82% on certain sectors, followed by Jet Airways.