Air India to continue charging earlier fares

Despite Rajdhani Express having announced surge pricing, national carrier Air India will stick with prices that were proposed earlier; Air India CMD Ashwini Lohani on Thursday told The Asian Age. However, civil aviation experts expressed surprise at the decision as Air India is already facing a huge financial crisis. The airline on the other hand was optimistic that if it allowed passengers to travel in AI aircraft on previous Rajdhani fares, it would be able to attract more passengers.

A few months ago, the airline had announced the spot fare scheme where passengers who wanted to travel four hours before the flight were eligible to get these spot fares. The spot fares were applicable to 21 destinations and the fare amounts were equal to the Rajdhani 2nd AC fare.

Explaining the same, Mr Lohani said that four months back, Rajdhani Express was charging Rs 2,800 for the Delhi-Mumbai route which is why Air India too started selling tickets at the same rate. However, with the Railway Ministry saying that it would introduce flexi fare pricing in its Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi trains, starting September 9, train fares would increase by 10 per cent with every 10 per cent of berths sold. For 2nd AC and chair car, the maximum hike would be 50 per cent while for 3rd AC, it would be 40 per cent. Notwithstanding, Air India would stick to its previous fare. Implying that even if Rajdhani Express now charged Rs 4,000, Air India would continue to charge the previous fare of Rs 2,800.