TRENDS| Indian carriers offer cheaper tickets to US

Indian carriers are all set to turn the heat on foreign airlines on the lucrative Delhi-US market. Air India will launch its Delhi-New York nonstop flight in February, with a tariff for economy class at about Rs 45,000 (inclusive of taxes), same as Jet’s via Brussels connection. Comparative fares of foreign carriers like British Airways, Lufthansa, Continental and American Airlines is higher by Rs 6,000 to Rs 16,000.



AI seems to have learnt from the Mumbai-JFK experience when it had to slash its introductory high fares within 10 days of August launch. With Kingfisher also going to join the list of Indian carriers flying to US by next year, foreign airlines will have to fly the extra mile to woo fliers.
The fare war, said analysts, will be for price-sensitive economy class passengers. With visiting relatives and leisure travel to US on the rise, this sector will become more important.
"Although traffic on this sector is growing, foreign carriers will have to fight for passengers with Indian airlines. For economy class passengers, this would mean more attractive fares. For premium business and first class fliers, this will elad to better services," said a travel agent.
Saurabh Sinha/Times of India