SpiceJet launches second flash sale in June, this time covering peak season
The airline cuts fares by more than half for bookings till 30 June for travel between 1 September and 15 December
Mumbai: India’s second largest low-fare airline SpiceJet Ltd on Friday cut fares by more than half for bookings till 30 June for travel between 1 September and 15 December, to fill seats during the peak travel season, even as losses are mounting.
This is the second such flash sale in June and covers a major portion of the peak travel season.
The Kalanithi Maran-controlled airline is offering fares starting as low as ₹ 1,999 all-in one flights to destinations across India for travel between 1 September and 15 December, the airline website said.
The three months ending December are considered peak season for domestic airlines because of festivals and holidays falling in the period.
This round of flash sales comes at a time when consultancy firm Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (Capa) on Thursday said the combined airline losses for India are expected to reach $1.4 billion in the current fiscal, as the structural viability of airline business models will continue to face pressures because costs are expected to increase while yields are likely to remain soft with new entrants coming into the market.
The combined losses for Indian airlines were $1.77 billion in the previous fiscal and in the last seven years, accumulated losses have reached $10.6 billion, Capa said.
SpiceJet, which has a domestic market share of nearly 20%, posted its biggest-ever net loss of ₹ 1,003.24 crore for the year ended 31 March. The loss widened five times from ₹ 191.07 crore a year ago. In sum, the airline had lost an average of ₹ 2.75 crore every day that it flew in India.
SpiceJet blamed the loss on the weak rupee and slower economic growth, which has limited growth in passenger traffic.
The latest “monsoon sale" by SpiceJet is its second sale in June; it had held a sale on 17 June for the lean monsoon period—for travel between 19 July and 30 September, with fares starting at ₹ 1,999, which after taxes come to nearly ₹ 3,000 in sectors like Delhi-Mumbai.
On 17 June, IndiGo had followed suit by offering fares from ₹ 1,724 for the same booking and travel period. According to IndiGo website, the all-inclusive one-way fare on Mumbai-Kolkata, Delhi-Chennai and Bangalore-Delhi under this latest offer was ₹ 3,499. Similarly, the fare from Delhi to Mumbai and Kolkata was ₹ 2,999. Delhi-Lucknow one-way fare was ₹ 1,724.
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