JOIN USThe pricing mechanism
The fares are determined through a `bucket system’ where the lowest priced tickets having a certain number of seats, say 10 to 15, move on to the next slab of higher tariff. Thus, if you purchase your ticket well in advance, you get it cheaper; it becomes expensive as the travel date advances.
Normally, an airline has 15 sub-classes of tickets for economy class and about four classes in the business class on a high-demand route such as Bangalore-Delhi or Mumbai-Delhi (normally, budget carriers have 180 all-economy seats, while full service carriers have about 20 executive seats).
For example, a Bangalore-Chennai economy class ticket in a budget airline booked on December 4 for December 20 travel cost Rs 2,351 in a low cost carrier (LCC like IndiGo, SpiceJet or Kingfisher Red) and Rs 3,399 in full service carrier (FSC like Jet Airways, Air India or Kingfisher Airlines).
However, for December 13 travel, the seat had moved on to the next fare slab - Rs 2,853 in budget carrier and Rs 3,999 in FSC. As for peak fare for spot booking – the crux of the ongoing controversy – LCCs’ lowest ticket was costing Rs 3,205 and Rs 3,458 in a FSC, for travel on December 5. The range of tariff for spot booking for December 5 on Bangalore-Chennai route was between Rs 3,205 and Rs 15,174, Bangalore-Mumbai Rs 4,644-33,781 and Bangalore-Delhi Rs 6601-31,426. A 10.20 am December 5 Delhi-Mumbai ticket on budget carrier JetLite was costing a whopping Rs 19,090!
Xmas fears
The fare is expected to skyrocket on days closer to Christmas-New Year (the average fare on Delhi-Mumbai route had reached Rs 15,000 immediately after Deepavali). A travel industry source said while traffic went up by five per cent in November compared to same month last year, December bookings are expected to be higher by 10-15 per cent.
At present, the fares are deregulated and airlines say market forces determine pricing, although Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel talked of `predatory pricing’ by carriers. Now, the DGCA wants to keep a tab on the airline pricing and has asked them to give route, category and periodwise fares for every month on their website so that people know the price range and the cost of a ticket booked in advance.
As against notifying peak fares, FSCs want minimum price fixed as it would help them compete with LCCs, but the latter, catering to budget travellers, are not interested as it may stop them from selling a ticket cheaper, resulting in seats going empty.
