MUMBAI/BANGALORE, APRIL 2:
Tier-II connectivity is the new big opportunity for domestic carriers, barring Kingfisher Airlines.
Jet Airways, IndiGo and SpiceJet have introduced many tier-II and tier-III routes in this year's summer schedule.
Officials at these airlines say that they have also applied to the DGCA for servicing routes vacated by KFA.
"The
cancellation of Kingfisher flights has created a vacuum on the supply
side. April to June being peak travel months, there is a clear
demand-supply mismatch this year," said Mr Manmeet Ahluwalia, India Head
of travel portal Expedia.
The
mismatch is a huge setback for the family summer travel segment, as air
fares have become costlier now, said Mr Iqbal Mulla, President, Travel
Agents' Association of India. "Air fares, which are already up 20-30 per
cent, will go up by an additional 20 per cent during the season," he
added.
NEW ROUTES
Jet Airways has added Mumbai-Amritsar, Mumbai-Vijayawada (via Hyderabad) and Bangalore-Ranchi to its network.
IndiGo will launch a daily Hyderabad-Visakhapatnam service and a daily Patna-Hyderabad flight via Delhi from April 4.
IndiGo officials said the airline plans to expand its network in newer markets and strengthen its existing routes.
SpiceJet
has opened bookings for Nanded in Maharashtra, and the service will
start from April 19. Bookings for Kozhikode are also open and the maiden
flight is on April 27, said a SpiceJet spokeswoman.
Other
smaller cities recently added include Surat, Aurangabad,
Thiruvananthapuram and Varanasi. The airline sees a huge untapped
potential in tier-II cities, she added.
According to Mr Mulla, Air India and Jet Airways have benefited the most in the past few months.
"Earlier,
they had about 70 per cent load factor, and now they are flying full.
IndiGo, already running full, did not have additional seat capacity to
tap into this sudden potential," he said.
However, low-cost carriers have increased their fares, which are now on par with full-service carriers, he added.
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