The Hindu Business Line : Airlines wooing US-bound students

WITH admission to various universities opening in the US and Canada, three major airlines - British Airways, Air India and Lufthansa - are vying with each other for student traffic with special one way fares.

The student fare on Air India on the newly introduced Chennai-Los Angeles sector is Rs 25,680. Airline sources said that this is a common rated fare and students could fly to any of the surrounding destinations such as Burbank, Seattle, Las Vegas, San Francisco and San Jose.

The fare on Air India to New York, New Jersey and Chicago from Chennai is Rs 28,890. The fare to New York and the destinations around is Rs 29,960. The airline allows one extra piece of baggage to any online point.

The airline also offers a special promotional return fare of Rs 49,220 on its newly introduced route Chennai-Los Angeles sector.

Lufthansa has also come out with a similar offer of Rs 27,000 from Chennai to New York, Boston, Chicago, Montreal and Toronto, industry sources said.

On the Mumbai/Delhi to UK sector, the German airline is offering a fare of about Rs 13,500.

British Airways is offering a fare of Rs 30,000 to US and Canada.

In addition, the airline is offering a free baggage allowance of an extra 20 kg to UK or one extra piece, maximum weight of 32 kg.

This could be useful to students, who carry a lot of baggage, especially books. The airline also has a special fare of Rs 12,840 on the Mumbai- London sector, market sources said.

British Airways has also tied up with Air Sahara to make convenient flight connections from the city of origin to any of the four metros for a direct flight to London, says a press release from British Airways.