Raining discounts: Short-haul global destinations come for a steal

For those who?ve missed their summer jaunt to short-haul international destinations this year, monsoon may actually be the right time for a holiday.

Low-cost foreign carriers such as AirAsia and Flydubai are offering rates that are almost half of the fares of full-service airlines. For instance, AirAsia is selling a return ticket on Delhi-Kuala Lumpur for Rs 11,000, which is much less than carriers like Malaysia Airlines. Flydubai has a cheap fare of Rs 13,000 on the Lucknow-Dubai sector. This is a steal compared to what Air India is offering. With domestic budget carrier SpiceJet entering the international market by next month, airfares are likely to fall further.

According to aviation bigwigs, the fares are here to stay, and a price war is not ruled out.

?We live and breathe low fares. We will stimulate the market and then other full service carriers flying the same routes will have to compete,? said Suresh Nair, regional manager (India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), AirAsia. The carrier, which flies from seven cities in India, will commence operations from Hyderabad in July and from Delhi in August.

SpiceJet, which is targetting July-end to start its international operations to Dhaka and Kathmandu, is tightlipped about details of its ?inaugural? fares but hints at lower airfares. ?We will ensure attractive low fares even in international markets, just like the domestic markets, where we offered 15-20% lower fares,? said Samyukth Sridharan, chief commercial officer, SpiceJet.

Travel agents are hopeful that as Indians are price conscious travelers, they will avail low fares.

Head of relationships and supplier management at Cox & Kings, Karan Anand, ?The advent of low-cost offering in the international sector will be a boon for tourism. Indian outbound traffic to destinations like Dubai and Malaysia will get a fillip with Flydubai and AirAsia entering the India market.?

Though low-cost carriers such as Air India Express and Air Arabia have been operating in the low-cost segment, they have not been very popular or aggressive in their distribution and marketing. ?With more low-cost inventory entering the market, and monsoon being a leaner season for leisure travel, we will see a dip of at least 10% in airfares during July and August,? said Bhawna Agarwal, founding VP, Airlines Business Group, Yatra.com.

The much-advertised low fares will create demand and we will see many first time fliers taking to the skies, said industry experts. But cheaper fares also means traveling without frills that many passengers might fancy at least on an international flight. ?These airlines will be targeting first-time fliers and the new traveler has anyway not tasted luxury,? said Agarwal. ?So it?s money that matters and the Indian traveller is now just eyeing the cheap thrills it seems,? he added.