Air India (AI), Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways are planning to convert most of their domestic flights into no-frills services. Since the three airlines together control 60 per cent of the domestic market, the proposed move will significantly curtail full service operations in the country, while the market share of no-frills services will expand in a big way. According to a report in Economic Times by Nirbhay Kumar, the move, which will benefit consumers,’ comes at a time when airlines are finding it difficult to improve yields. According to an industry estimate, average passenger tariff has halved to Rs 3,000 in the last five years. The cost of operation of airlines has, however gone up during this period resulting in a shortfall in revenue.
While Jet Airways has said it will increase the number of flights on its JetKonnect network to 160 by October this year out of its total 290 flights on domestic routes, Kingfisher Airlines has already shifted 70 per cent of its 365 domestic flights a day to the no-frills brand. Air India also stated that it will gradually shift 75 per cent of its domestic flights to its low-cost entity, Air India Express. |