SpiceJet’s regional operations set to trigger price war
26 Aug 2011
Mumbai: India's aviation sector is heading for another period of turmoil as yet another price war looms ahead. Low-cost airline SpiceJet is due to launch regional operations commencing 21 September, with fares at least 10-30% lower than those of Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, and Air India.
Interestingly, all three carriers have stated their intention to shift focus to Tier II and III routes, or regional sectors, as trunk routes approach saturation levels.
As with others, SpiceJet, will connect to Tier II and III destinations to nearest metros with its regional service which will use Hyderabad as its hub.
The first service will be a Hyderabad-Tirupati service which will operate twice daily.
According to airline officials, the carrier was selling tickets 10-30% cheaper than Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways. In the next week it expected offer tickets that would be about 25% cheaper.
Uniformly, SpiceJet is targeting prices levels that would be at least 10% lower than the market offerings.