‘Low fares are not sustainable’

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: and profile in mind. We do offer some tickets at Rs 750 plus surcharges. But that is for select routes at certain times of the day. It doesn’t happen every time.

What are your realisations at the moment?

Since it’s a lean phase at the moment, you can see much more of this Rs 500 fare game. We are not doing it, but I hope it can be contained because it could lead to widespread discounting and price wars, which is not good for the industry. Obviously, with lower fares, realisations are lower. During the peak season, in December, for instance, that wasn’t the case.

Kingfisher is a strong competitor today. Do you feel threatened by them?

The Air Deccan-Kingfisher combine is a competitor we have to take seriously. Kingfisher has a good product. Deccan has a good reach. This is a competitor we cannot take for granted, at all.

Vijay Mallya, chairman of Kingfisher Airlines, once joked that his company’s strategy was so clear that his planes came retrofitted with in-flight entertainment. Jet, in contrast, decided to go in for in-flight entertainment after Kingfisher’s success. Why was it so?

You have to understand that the average age of Jet’s fleet of aircraft is about seven-and-a-half years as opposed to that of Kingfisher, which is much younger. Six years ago the question of in-flight entertainment in all classes didn’t arise. It now has. So we have configured our new aircraft with in-flight entertainment systems. However, our older aircraft do not have in-flight entertainment in them. So, it is a mixed bag, I agree. Don’t forget that we have been in existence since 1993, while Kingfisher has been around for the last three years. That’s the big difference.

Do you think Kingfisher’s product is sustainable in an environment where costs are high?

Let me answer this question by speaking about ourselves. Despite competition in the marketplace, our J class numbers have been growing steadily. It stands at 9% of our total passengers as of now. This has happened in the face of stiff competition from players such as Kingfisher and Indian. This implies that there is a market for a good product. But it will come at a price. You cannot have fares of a low cost carrier for a product like that. It doesn’t work.

What are you doing about economy class? That’s the bulk market for you.