Ticket Sales Increased With The Decrease In Airfares

Bangalore:  Want to go to any of your favorite destinations in India to celebrate your birthday or Valentine’s Day or any celebrations this February and March? Then book your air tickets now. February and March are the months that are preferred less for travelling thus the domestic airlines have launched air tickets with discounts for three days for these two months. The three-day discounts launched by domestic airlines have boosted forward bookings of carriers in February and March. Earlier the maximum occupancy in the flights in such season was maximum 20 percent but now it is 50 percent. Among other domestic airlines, Spicejet was the first to introduce this offer.

Due to the current offers on air tickets many people who used to see air travel as an expensive option now can at least think of buying one. Even the people who were not planning to travel have also changed their mind and booked the tickets, said the sectoral sources. In order to recover the loss airlines have decided to sell higher fare slabs but this might be bit difficult. 

Often it is seen that the domestic airlines sell 40,000-50,000 tickets on an average daily. There are approximately a capacity of 180-190 seats in Boeing 737s and the Airbus A320, that are operated by the domestic airlines. The operating costs and break-even seat factor always depends on the route and airline. “A low cost airline would need to earn Rs 7-8 lakh on a one-hour flight to break even, while the earning of a full service airline would have to be higher. In order to fill 70 per cent of seats (125-130 of the 180-190 in a plane), an airline have to charge a net fare of 5,500-6,300 on a passenger to earn that. If the airline has sold a certain number of seats at a discount, then simultaneously it will have to increase its occupancy to more than 70 per cent in order to earn Rs 7-8 lakh. The question is if airlines be able to fill the unsold seats at higher fares. The break-even is still an issue, as operating costs are high,” an aviation expert said.

Read More:
Revealed: Morning Reading Habits Of The Most Successful People
Indian Economy May Grow By 4.8 Per Cent This Fiscal: Ficci Survey