The Hindu Business Line : Come winter... book early or pay more

From October get set to pay more for domestic air travel, especially if the journey is decided at the last moment. The Managing Director of the low-cost airline GoAir, Mr Jeh Wadia, had indicated that with the high season for the domestic airlines starting from October, airfares were bound to go up by 10-15 per cent.

"The overall fares may not go up by 10-15 per cent. However, what we could see is that the number of seats being offered at discounted prices would reduce. But, if a passenger books in advance they should have no problem in getting reduced rate fares," Mr Wadia said.

When contacted, officials of both the low-cost and full service airlines said that while there were no indications of a fare hike, almost all the airlines would look to cut back on the number of lower fare seats that would be available.

"The idea behind almost all the domestic airlines introducing revenue management systems was to ensure better inventory management and thereby increase yields. It must be remembered that an aircraft seat is a perishable commodity and every empty seat is a revenue loss," said a senior airline official.

High Season

During the peak season, there would be some flights like those going to Goa between mid-December and early-January where there may be no or very few reduced rate seats being offered. Traditionally, the high season in India is from October-end till March-April. The Chief Executive Officer of Jet Airways, Mr Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, had said in August that the airline would look at cutting back on the number of reduced rate tickets available during the peak season.