Airlines woo fliers with attractive packages

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In the aftermath of Covid 2.0, several airlines have rolled out attractive deals and packages to woo customers into buying their tickets. The airline industry was one of the biggest victims of the ongoing pandemic. As of now, the positivity rate of Covid-19 has lowered while vaccination has touched new records in the country. As a result, the aviation industry is confident about bouncing back once the customers reinitiate ticket bookings.

On June 25, SpiceJet declared a one-way monsoon sale for customers with an all-inclusive fare of Rs 999 on domestic routes like  Hyderabad-Belgaum, Belgaum-Hyderabad, Chennai-Hyderabad and Chennai-Bengaluru. The offer is valid for bookings made in between June 25-30 and for travelling between August 1 2021 and March 31, 2022.

Discounts galore

India’s largest airline IndiGo also announced a discount of up to 10% on base fares for anyone who has taken at least one dose of vaccine against Covid-19. One must carry the vaccination certificate at the check-in counter during their travels.

“Being the largest airline in the country, we feel it is our responsibility to contribute to the national vaccination drive,” Sanjay Kumar, chief strategy and revenue officer of IndiGo, said in a statement.

Vistara, the combined venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, had also declared a similar 48 hour sale on tickets that ended yesterday. The travelling period for these discount tickets was August 1 to October 12.

“The unfortunate second wave of covid-19 compelled many to put their travel plans on hold. As the situation begins to gradually improve and demand starts to return, we are happy to invite travelers to fly the airline that India trusts the most to their destinations, at these attractive fares,” Vinod Kannan, chief commercial officer at Vistara, said in a statement.

Boosting vaccination drive

Meanwhile, MakeMyTrip introduced an interesting feature on its website to promote vaccination as subsequent safe travels. It is offering users to book vaccination slots on the platform and download and link the vaccination certificate to user profiles. Now the vaccinated users can opt for special travel offers and value-adds on bookings made through the platform.

According to a report by broking firm ICICI Securities, these promotional offers by airlines have followed a rise in air passenger traffic for the third straight week ending June 19 as lockdown restrictions were relaxed by most states, after falling for 10 weeks in a row between March and May with the outbreak of Covid 2.0. The average number of daily fliers also rose to 1,03,000 for the week ending on June 19, from 83,000 a week ago.

While the fear of Covid-19’s third wave persists, the vaccination drive has somehow held the momentum in the positive light until now. Things are believed to get back on track as we’re collectively more aware about the disease and its prevention as we march forward.