MUMBAI: The war has just begun but the customer is already the victor. On Thursday, to counter new airline AirAsia’s entry into India, SpiceJet launched fares of Rs.1,499 on the Bangalore-Goa and Bangalore-Chennai routes. On Friday, new entrant AirAsia opened its bookings with all-inclusive fares of Rs.990 and base fares of Rs.5 for over 15,000 promotional seats available for immediate booking, on the same sectors. On Saturday, India’s number 1 carrier Indigo announced the introduction of Rs.1 flights between Bangalore and Chennai and Bangalore and Goa.
AirAsia CEO Mittu Chandilya immediately added that he was adding 10,000 additional seats for the Rs.5 promotional fare. “Received overwhelming response to our Goa and Chennai routes. I have decided to have additional Rs.5 promo fares,” he tweeted.
AirAsia’s operations will begin on June 12 with the Bangalore-Goa flight. The Bangalore-Chennai flights will start a week later, on June 19. Adding airport taxes and other fees, the Goa-Bangalore ticket costs Rs.291; the Bangalore-Goa ticket, Rs.490. The Indigo ticket works out to Rs.410 after taxes. The travel period validity for the promo fares is between June 12 and October 25 on both SpiceJet and AirAsia.
In a statement on Friday, the new airline’s CEO had said: “I promised that AirAsia India will make quality travel affordable to all and that we will revolutionise the Indian aviation sector.” The airline is starting with Bangalore, Goa and Chennai as its initial destinations but plans to connect at least 10 cities by March-end.