SpiceJet drops fares once again

New Delhi: Low-cost airline SpiceJet has announced a fresh round of reductions in its fare this week, even as airlines contemplate hiking their own fares in the face of losses brought on by the global economic slowdown. 

SpiceJet has announced fares starting at Rs99 across its network, with the offer being available for all bookings till March 2009. 

SpiceJet's last rollback of fares was on 15 October, when it dropped up to 15 per cent on tickets bought in advance while withdrawing congestion charges.

Most airlines in India presently charge Rs150 per ticket as a congestion charge against additional flying time that their planes spend in the air circling airports on account of traffic.

The airline's chief commercial officer Samyukth Sridharan said the fares were a step by the airline to encourage people to continue to fly ''in these hard times".  He said with the availability of improved infrastructure, SpiceJet does not face the problem of congestion anymore, and is therefore passing on the benefit to its customers. 

The new fares are e applicable on advance purchases. 

SpiceJet's price cut comes in the wake of an alliance announced by the two largest private airlines in the country, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, who plan to use their collective might to negotiate better fuel prices, and streamline operational costs. 

During the third quarter, SpiceJet commanded a market share of around 8.3 per cent, having flown 710,000 passengers. The airline also plans to bring in a special fare of Rs3,225 including taxes for the lucrative Mumbai-Delhi sector to aid business traffic, which it says will help connect more people between the nation's capital and financial hub.