SpiceJet starts another super sale at Rs2,999 from 3 to 5 June

After its Re1 tickets offer in April, no-frills airline SpiceJet today announced yet another sale, offering travel at fares starting as low as Rs2,999 (all-inclusive one way fares).

Consumers can book tickets between 3 and 5 June 2014 for travel between 6 July 2014 and 28 March 2015, the airline said on its website.

The number of seats available, however, are limited and the tickets would be made available on first-come-first-served basis, SpiceJet said.

The sale is also not applicable on bookings made for infants and groups, the airline said.

However, it is valid for bookings made on via and connecting flights only from select cities on SpiceJet's domestic network.

Against this, the new airline AirAsia is offering one-way prices of Rs990 all inclusive on its routes, with offers of Rs5 base fare promotional tickets (See: AirAsia India triggers price war in south with Rs5 base fare).http://www.domain-b.com/aero/airlines/20140531_price_war.html

Almost all domestic carriers are offering tickets at discounted prices on several sectors, booked at least 90 days before the travel date. Airlines have received an overwhelming response from passengers on a slew of discounted fare offers between January and April.

The entry of AirAsia is expected to spark a fresh wave of fare wars and other domestic airlines are expected to join in.

Aviation sector regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), is not convinced that the move is sustainable for a largely loss-making industry.

It has issued a circular to all airlines directing them to furnish ''detailed data'' on their fare strategy, financial performance in FY14 and their safety oversight mechanism latest by 13 June. The regulator, however, has decided not to intervene in the fare wars for the time being.

The move comes after the DGCA asked SpiceJet to pull back its three-day Re1 fare sale offer ''immediately'' on 1 April this year citing ''sensationalism'' and ''predatory pricing'' that had deceived the public.

''A circular has already been sent to all airlines on May 30 asking for detailed information on fares, their financial position and safety oversight. We are looking for data for the last financial year 2014 and have asked them to furnish the information by June 13,'' sources in DGCA said.

''We feel the fare wars are a response to competitive pressures, so we do not plan to intervene as of now. We hope it is a well-considered decision by the airlines to cut fares so deeply. We do not want sudden sensationalism, but there will be no undue interference from us. We do not want to damage competition,'' the source added.

The current round of the fare war started with SpiceJet offering tickets starting at Rs1,499 for travel starting 12 June on the Bangalore-Goa and Bangalore-Chennai routes last Thursday, just a day before AirAsia announced its launch from the same date and on the same two routes.

AirAsia offered one-way prices of Rs990 all inclusive on its routes, later offering Rs5 base fare promotional tickets.

On Saturday, IndiGo followed suit with a Re1 base fare on flights on the Bangalore-Chennai and Bangalore-Goa sectors.

 (Also see: IndiGo enters fare war with Rs1,389 base price as SpiceJet's Re1 offer ends today)