Cheap Tickets Leading to Increased Number of Fliers

With the advent of low-cost carriers (LCC) in the aviation market, the number of fliers has significantly increased. As per reports, a record growth of over 8 per cent has been seen in the month of August as compared to July. Apart from cheap tickets, improved services, easy accessibility and new marketing strategies are some of the important reasons behind this growth. In absolute terms, around 5.2 million people availed services of these airlines in the month of July, which climbed up to approximately 5.7 million in just 30 days. However, on year on year basis, the jump was of around 5.31 per cent, with a total of over 41 million fliers. Carriers like SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo also got into competitive spirit, which lead to a fare war and ultimately in increased fliers.

GoAir with around 10 per cent market share continued offering seats at a low cost. This Wadia Group-owned airline is growing at a fast pace and is planning to launch international flights in the coming year. As per industry experts, travellers can see a few international destinations in the GoAir booking option list. It has recently commenced operations on a number of new routes including Odisha. With over 100 everyday flights to over 20 destinations in the country, it is one of the rare airlines to report in its financial books. It is expected that as soon as it starts global operations, these profit figures will go up.

IndiGo, Jet Airways and SpiceJet also gained a significant number of passengers in the previous month. This raised the load factor of different airlines, but it remained in the 70-80 points range as the increment was slight in the last few months. However, more than 80 per cent seats of SpiceJet aircraft were reserved in the previous quarter. This LCC has left behind the leading carrier IndiGo in terms of flight occupancy, but as far as market shares are considered, it is still on the third spot. If the progress graph remains the same, we can expect interesting twists and turns in the performance reports of all these carriers in the following quarter.

GoAir Booking Extended to Odisha

The Indian low-cost carrier (LCC) GoAir is one of the leading airlines of the nation. This LCC is aggressively expanding its business in the country and may soon initiate its international business, as per latest reports. It has recently announced flights to Odisha from Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Currently, it operates on more than 100 routes to over 20 Indian cities. A few days back, the airline initiated several feasibility reports for the initiation of operation in the state. The result seems to be positive as it has made an announcement regarding the commencement of operations in Odisha. It will provide travellers with an option to book cheap air ticket to the city. Biju Patnaik International Airport at Bhubaneswar will be its 22nd destination, where four flights are expected to land and depart in the coming months. Two of them are destined to New Delhi and one to Kolkata and Mumbai.

As per reports, the LCC is also keen to operate on Bhubaneswar and Bangalore route, but it may take some time as a number of studies have to be done before the commencement. Travellers can book tickets for the newly-launched routes after a week, but services will be initiated in January, next year. It is the third carrier to serve in the city after Air India and IndiGo. As per resources, GoAir booking counter will be opened at the terminal along with three check-in counters. The terminal currently handles 15 daily flights, which will be more than 20 in the coming months.

Apart from this, the airline will soon start global operations as it will receive the 20th aircraft as well as complete the fifth year by the end of this year. It is planning to submit an application regarding this as soon as the aircraft is received by the carrier.