Bangalore: Air Deccan, the Deccan Aviation Ltd-owned low cost airline, will increase ticket sales through non-traditional channels such as petrol pumps and post offices as it aims to expand its passenger base in smaller towns in the country.

The airline has tied up with the Karnataka circle of India Post, the country’s postal department to sell its tickets in 500 post offices with Internet access in the state. The department will earn the 5% commission on tickets the carrier gives to its agents. “Post offices gives us access to a market that is not tapped,” said Capt G.R. Gopinath, executive chairman, Air Deccan.

Air Deccan earns 9% of its ticket sales through non-conventional channels such as departmental stores and petrol pumps owned by state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL). Nearly 40% of its passengers buy tickets from its website and an additional 30% from travel agents in the country.

Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, the carrier owned by the UB Group Holdings Ltd, which also owns a 26% stake in Air Deccan, sells 3% of its tickets through ATMs of banks and Reliance Webworld outlets, and says that full fare airlines have more opportunity for business by selling tickets through non conventional channels. “A 5% agent share on our ticket of an average ticket cost of Rs5,000 compared with an low-cost carrier’s average fare of Rs2,000 would obviously be more,” said Manoj Chacko, general manager (global sales), Kingfisher Airlines.