AirAsia India has thrown down the gauntlet in the war of domestic airfare. The recently launched ‘Big Sale’ is offering domestic flights for as low as RS 699 or less than USD 12. The airfare can be booked from tonight until November 16th for flights from June 10 2015 to January 17, 2016.
These flights are for economy and business class and are offered as ‘all inclusive one way fare.’ The cities serviced are Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Goa, jJaipur and Chandigarh.
‘Big Sale’ was launched by AirAsia India’s parent company AirAsia, which is also featuring discounted flights from Kuala Lumpur with a starting price of Rs 2,599 for flights operated by Thai AirAsia and AirAsia Berhad. There are currently three million promotional seats available for the international fligthts from Kuala Lumpur.
The business class seats on AirAsia’s planes won the Skytrax 2014 award for ‘World’s Bet Low-Cost Airline Premium Cabin’ and ‘World’s Best Low-Cost Airline Premium Class Seat.
There’s been a recent price war within domestic airfare. They’re usually started when the management of one company sends word that there needs to be an increase in sales. After the airline industry’s turmoil of the early 2000s and the recent flight scares because of the Ebola crisis, no airline is wiling to risk not selling tickets. So at the bidding management, the airline will lower prices on select flights – usually on routes with a lot of competition. Other airlines will soon follow suit by matching or undercutting the first airline’s prices. And so airfare will plummet or diversify, depending on if an airline chooses to undercut prices or raise amenities. One fare war ended with $290-$2334 fairs for a round trip from New York to Los Angeles.
So if you see a sudden dip on a trip that you’re interested in, here’s a good rule of thumb: If it’s 60% off or more purchase immediately, otherwise wait for 24 hours to see what the competitors will bring in. And never wait too long. Eventually other buyers will take advantage of the prices, and you’ll be left paying the prices the airlines want you to pay.
