It will come as a relief to those, who have to travel regularly by air and were frustrated by paying high fares time and time again, since it was announced by Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya that his airlines would cut fares by 1st January. Though he did not quantify the cut, sources confirm that it would be between 10% and 15%. So overall, the fares could further drop between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. There had been reduction of fuel surcharge by Rs 400 during the last month.

Jet Airways too has taken up the decision to cut its basic fares by 15-40% to take on the competition with effect from Monday. All in all, fares of Naresh Goyal-promoted airline are expected to come down by 5-10%.                                                   

The happy news does not end here. In fact it is being predicted that Air India (domestic) too would announce a `sizable' reduction in the first week of January, as the aviation ministry has specifically asked it not to do a cosmetic farecut job.

Other than this, IndiGo and SpiceJet, the nation’s low cost carrier are also making an effort to provide attractive schemes, including low advance booking fares to get the AC II tier train traveller back in the air.

“Kingfisher will begin the new year on an aggressive note by slashing airfares. The current low prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) allow Kingfisher to pursue an opportunity to significantly increase its market share by offering the finest five star flying experience at reduced fares,” informed Mallya.