The Hindu Business Line : Air Sahara unveils `Steal fares' on six sectors

THE battle to woo the domestic air traveller is hotting up. Air Sahara on Monday announced `Steal fares' through which passengers can avail themselves of substantial savings on select to-and-fro flights on six sectors. These include Delhi-Hyderabad, Delhi-Bangalore, Delhi-Chennai and Mumbai-Bangalore.

Incidentally, Air Sahara's announcement on `Steal fares' coincides with the coming into force of the instant purchase `Check fares' scheme of Jet Airways, which offers a passenger savings of about 30-45 per cent on air tickets on 10 sectors.

In a statement here, Air Sahara said that `Steal fares' would be available to passengers in two categories — higher and lower levels. Unlike the Apex fares, the `Steal fares' need not be booked in advance. These tickets can be purchased near the date of travel based on the availability of seats. A passenger availing of `Steal fares' will be charged either Rs 5,850 or Rs 7,150 for a one-way economy class trip between Delhi and Chennai, while those travelling between Delhi-Hyderabad will either pay Rs 4,750 or Rs 5,950. Similarly, those availing themselves of the scheme between Mumbai and Bangalore will be charged either Rs 3,250 or Rs 3,750.

Explaining the rationale of the `Steal fares,' the Air Sahara Executive Vice-President, Mr Alok Sharma, said they were aimed at a different segment of the market. "The new scheme is aimed at those willing to wait and have a flexible time schedule, but are still keen on cheaper fares. It is a new thing for us and we want to see the success of the scheme before examining whether it should be extended to more sectors," Mr Sharma said.

Meanwhile, Jet announced that it was extending the `Check fares' to four more sectors, taking the total number of sectors, where the reduced fares are on offer, to 10. The new sectors include Ahmedabad-Mumbai, Delhi-Patna, Delhi-Lucknow and Mumbai-Rajkot as also on the return direction.