More and more number of air passengers are buying tickets over the internet, especially those travelling budget airlines. In contrast, the affluent passengers — those who book their tickets on full service carriers — continue to reserve their tickets through travel agents. The online reservation penetration in this category is rather poor.

According to a study conducted by consultancy firm Centre For Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), 43 per cent of low-cost carrier (LCC) passengers in India bought their tickets over the net and 48 % of them used credit cards to pay for their tickets.

The recent study of 2,000 air passengers was conducted at major airports in India.

“The  findings of this survey were in many ways surprising. Fundamental trends in passenger behaviour have emerged, in the context of India’s LCC revolution,” said CAPA’s India head Kapil Kaul. Three years ago many arguments were put that Indian LCCs would fail due to low Internet and credit card penetration in the market, he said.

“It was believed that the LCC model would not here. The spread of middle class affluence has challenged this point of view,” he said.  However, internet penetration in full service bookings is poor with only  21 per cent buying tickets over the net.

61 per cent purchased their tickets via  travel agents and 31 per cent used  credit cards to pay for their tickets.

‘SOFT’ BUT RICH DIVIDENDS
New Delhi, DHNS: The Indian Railways has so far issued more than 27,000 cards under the Scheme of Frequent Travellers (SOFT). The scheme was launched by Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) in collaboration with State Bank of India last year, to reward upper class passengers who travel frequently by train.
The scheme, launched in February 2006, is applicable to I AC, II AC and AC Chair Car classes. To get the SOFT card, a passenger  has to register by paying a membership fee of Rs 500 for the first year. The card, issued after this, has to be renewed each year on payment of an annual fee of Rs 300. The passenger gets a complimentary train trip after accumulating a specified number of  reward points.