Check out before you check in

Indians can now fly to the farthest part of the world for less on airlines that few have heard of so far. Come December 7, Iceland-based WOW air will launch a ‘five-days-a-week’ flight linking Delhi to Iceland offering immediate connections to the US, Canada and other parts of Europe with one-way fares to New York beginning at ₹12,499.

Ukraine International Airlines is offering a return fare of $600 from Delhi to London. In May this year, the airline started flying four times a week between Delhi and Kiev and offers immediate connections to Paris, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Brussels and many other cities in Europe.

However, if you opt for these airlines, get ready for an adventure as you experience flying with international budget airlines. Here is a sample. There is no in-flight entertainment system on WOW flights and as the airline’s website says, “We, therefore, recommend that our guests bring something fun along with them, especially when travelling with children.” And though flyers on the airline’s north American routes have the option of renting iPads with entertainment, these are subject to availability (see box).

Take a careful look

Even when it comes to the most attractive offer of low pricing one needs to take a careful look. For instance, on WOW, there are four fare levels and the free allowances that you get depend on the fare level you have booked under.

At the end of June, this newspaper booked a return trip for two to Chicago from Delhi for travel in March 2019 on WOW. For departure from Delhi on March 3 and return from Chicago on March 20, the return fare for two in WOW Basic was ₹1,03,996, in WOW Comfy it was ₹1,48,596 and ₹2,91,196 in WOW Plus. The website showed that all the tickets booked in all the three classes were non-refundable.

A 44-lb check-in bag on WOW Basic cost ₹4,699 at the time of making the booking while the price at check-in for the same bag was ₹6,029. We also pre-booked one super scrambled egg and one pizza margarita on the flight from Delhi to Reykjavik and the second flight from Reykjavik to Chicago, which cost ₹3,016. The airline’s website specifies that bag prices may vary based on the date of travel, route and channel of purchase.More significantly, thecheck-in baggage and carry-on baggage allowance is non-refundable and non-transferable.

Ukraine International Airlines (UIA), which calls itself a “hybrid and not a low cost airline”, is going to wait and watch before it decides on what all to offer its flyers. According to Sergey Fomenko, Vice-President, Commerce, UIA, for the Delhi market, the airline is offering fares that include one check-in bag and one handbag. “After a few months of operations we will consider if we have enough public travelling who would like to travel without baggage and if so we will introduce special fares without baggage for light tourists or backpackers,” he adds.

There is more in the fine print. UIA offers three types of products. The low priced network product means you can not only fly to Kiev but also connect to anywhere in Europe, the premium economy product which has more included, and the business class product.

In many ways these two new entrants to the Indian market are taking forward promises that carriers like Scoot, Air Arabia and other airlines made earlier. For instance, Johanes Ong, General Manager, India, Scoot, told BusinessLine , that a passenger from Chennai can fly as far as Melbourne via Singapore for fares ranging from ₹12,888 (one-way) to ₹18,921 (one-way).

The airline has been flying to India since May 2016 and currently flies to seven cities, including Chennai, offering 45 weekly flights. Scoot has three fare categories in economy — Fly, FlyBag, FlyBagEat and ScootBiz. On the cheapest Fly ticket the airline does not offer a checked-in baggage allowance although it allows a passenger to carry two handbags — a laptop bag and a handbag with the combined weight not exceeding 10 kg.

On a FlyBagEat ticket, a passenger is given a checked-in bag allowance of 20 kg apart from the same free cabin baggage allowance as is allowed on a Fly ticket. In FlyBagEat a complimentary hot meal is included in the price of the ticket.

However, despite all these catches, these airlines are filling in a niche that is expanding.

Catering to demand

Says Abhijit Mishra, Director, India and Middle East, KAYAK, “There is still a huge part of the Indian traveller population which is always looking out for the cheapest deals to newer destinations. The entry of international budget airlines will certainly provide an avenue for the new-age young budget travellers to explore less travelled destinations like Central Asia, Nordics, East Europe, etc., at a very affordable price.”

On his part, WOW’s Chief Executive Officer and founder, Skúli Mogensen, is gung-ho about the Indian market. According to him, in India, the airline will be able to tap into what he calls the smart traveller — people who are price-conscious and want value for money.

“From time to time you will see these incredible fares. Yes, they are introductory fares. And yes, fares will vary, depending on seasonality and demand. But if you are flexible, if you are willing to look ahead, you will find these fares to be continuously very low on an ongoing basis,” Mogensen told BusinessLine .

While the WOW promoter declines to get into how high and low the fares could be, he does say that the passenger sitting next to you on the flight should not have paid 3X or 5X of the fare that you have paid..

These international budget airlines are optimistic about the reach that India offers. For instance, at the moment, UIA has an agreement with Indian carriers which allows it to connect to Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai.

Sergey hints that the airline will see where passenger demand is coming from and possibly make a decision next year about which other Indian city to launch flights to.

Adds WOW’s Mogensen, “Currently about 20,000 people are travelling between India and North America each day and 87 per cent of them need to make one or more stops to complete their journey. That tells me that the market is under-served because we have 15 destinations in North America.”

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