Airlines India, Indian Airlines

Like other Indian air carriers, Indigo airlines has also executed a sale and leaseback deal on the five jets. The airline has booked 100 Airbus A-320s and is planning to execute similar lease deals for the first 15 airbus A-320s. Sale and lease back process is being adopted by most of the airlines across the world. In this type of arrangement the carrier has the ease to pay out from the earnings from the aircraft. Indian carriers Jet Airways, Deccan Aviation and Kingfisher Airlines have also closed such kind of deals.

At present Indigo has a fleet of five Jets and has booked Airbus A-320s to enlarge its fleet. Indigo is operating as a low cost budget airline. The company has not bought any aircraft and is playing safe by executing sale and lease back deal to maintain cash flows. The airline is aiming at a faster growth in future.

It’s that time of year again when consumers loosen their purse strings and companies go all out to woo them! CNBC-TV18 tracks the best options for holidaymakers.

An ideal vacation may not be a distant dream this festive season. With airlines going all out to increase load factors, tie-ups with hotels, travel agencies and travel sites are the order of the day.

Moreover, special discount fares, cash back schemes and lucky draws are just some of the incentives that airlines hope will help boost their numbers.

Low cost players like GoAir are bombarding passengers with offers like GoCrazy, which means you can get a ticket to any destination for as little as Rs 600.

Go is also offering 50,000 tickets for as low as Rs 525 to major tourist destinations around the country, and smart tickets, which means door-to-door delivery service free of any extra charge.

Competitors Spice and Indigo are giving tickets for Rs 499 onwards on all routes. In addition to the no frills onslaught, schedule airlines like Indian are vying for space with their overseas discount trump card, the Desh Videsh service.

So take a well-deserved break this festive season, go sightseeing, and fly back without the bills going through the roof.

It’s that time of the year again when people loosen their purse strings, get ready to unwind in the festive season and have all the major airlines gunning for their attention.

Travelling by air clubbed with the festival season seems to have become the latest obsession with Indians and all major carriers are doling out festive schemes to shore up passenger volumes.

So what does an average air traveller want from the festive season?

The commonest answers range from genuine ones like “I don’t want to stand in lines for a ticket”, and “I want tickets that don’t burn a hole in my pocket” to a little more ‘frilly’ ones like “I need better looking air hostesses” and “I want free champagne on all flights.”

But your ideal vacation may not be a distant dream this festive season as airlines going all out to increase load factors, tie-ups with hotels, travel agencies and travel sites.

Moreover, special discount fares, cash back schemes and lucky draws are just some of the incentives that airlines hope will help boost their numbers.

Low-cost players like GoAir are bombarding passengers with offers like GoCrazy which means one can get a ticket to any destination for as little as Rs 600.

GoAir is also offering 50,000 tickets for as low as Rs 525 to major tourist destinations around the country, and smart tickets, which means door-to-door delivery service free of any extra charge.

Competitors Spice and Indigo are also giving out tickets for Rs 499 onwards on all routes. In addition to the no frills onslaught, schedule airlines like Indian are vying for space with their overseas discount trump card, the desh-videsh service.

So you can well afford to take a well-deserved break this festive season, go sightseeing, and fly back without the bills going through the roof.

But don’t expect any champagne. At least not as of now!

Dutch football star Dennis Bergkamp never liked the idea of flying. The thought of boarding an aircraft often reduced him to jelly and he preferred to travel across Europe by road.

In India too, low cost carriers are facing the same issue as a sizeable chunk of people, who have never flown before, are keeping away from small planes like ATRs due to fear factor. Even, doling out Re 1 and Rs 3 tickets may not be enough to attract them.

Further market expansion is linked to this fear syndrome. About 35-40% of travellers in low-cost carriers like Air Deccan, Spicejet and IndiGo are first-time flyers.

Analysts say load factor of low-cost carriers could improve by another 10% if this scare of boarding smaller aircraft is rooted out.

There have been occasions when certain first time flyers scream as the airline hits a pocket of turbulence. The scared lot then pass on the ‘knowledge’ to his/her family members that flying an airline is indeed a dangerous activity.

“The Indian aviation sector requires a tectonic shift in consumer behaviour,”says Air Deccan MD GR Gopinath. “While a lot of them are excited about flying, there are quite a number of people who are staying away. We need to spread awareness that flying is the safest mode of travel.”

Analysts say about 22-25% of the people who fly low-cost airlines are from the rural sector. Many of them are flying to meet their children in cities who have sent them e-tickets.

“There are some who link low-cost carriers with lack of safety,”says aviation consultant Praveen Paul. “That’s unfortunate, but that’s the case. Some people think that paying a low fare could mean greater risks.”

Low-cost carriers like Air Deccan believe that the issue will take some time to settle.

“When mobile phones were first introduced in India, many did not think it will take off. Same is the case with flying,”says Gopinath.

There are people who have taken a low-cost flight before ever experiencing a train. “Let’s take a state like Rajasthan,”says Paul. “There are many there who have flown before travelling on rail. I can imagine their feeling.”

The battle for the skies may finally be fought on the ground as airline companies are trying to attract more passengers by introducing passenger-friendly net-based technologies.
The latest is the web based check-in to help the passengers avoid those frustrating queues and last minute hassles at the check-in counters.

The web check-in facility allows passengers to access their boarding passes in the comfort of their home, book seats of their choice and proceed directly for the security check. While Kingfisher Airlines recently launched the product, low cost carriers Air Deccan and Indigo Airlines plans to introduce it shortly.

Air Deccan, plans to launch the web check-in product in the next two months. “We should be able to put the technology in place by November end,” Air Deccan chief technology officer Ajay Bhatkal said.

New entrant Indigo Airlines will introduce web check-in within a week, calling it a part of their strategy “of taking the hassle out of travel”.

Kingfisher Airlines, which has garnered almost 9% domestic market share since the start of their operations in May 2005, recently launched the product.

Moving a step further, the airline company has introduced a new concept of roving agents who reach out to the passengers and check them in, using a mobile digital device and printer.

Jet Airways was the first airline in the country, and the fifth airline in Asia Pacific to introduce the product in the country in October 2005.

National domestic carrier Indian Airlines was also undergoing technological upgrades, company sources informed.