Our Bureau

New Delhi , June 6

GET set to fly in the domestic sky for Re 1! In a move that could lead to a fare war in the domestic arena, Air Deccan is starting to sell 1,000 tickets every month priced at Re 1 from Tuesday.

The tickets will be available for flights operated with the Airbus A-320 aircraft that the airline uses on long distance trunk routes connecting Delhi with Bangalore and Delhi with Chennai.

"We will sell 1,000 tickets every month at Re 1. The tickets go on sale at 6.30 a.m. and will be available not only through our Web site, but also through other vendors. There will be at least two-to-three seats per aircraft at this new low fare. The sale of ticket will be on a first-cum-first serve basis," the airline's Managing Director, Captain G.R. Gopinath said here on Monday. The passenger will have to bear a Passenger Service Fee (PSF) of Rs 221 that is collected by the Government. The airline, however, has no plans of withdrawing the other low levels of fares that are currently available in the market, including the Rs 500 ticket.

Deccan also announced a reduction in fares on the Delhi-Bangalore and Mumbai-Bangalore sectors. "The airline has decided to reduce the fares on these two sectors, as promotional fares were being offered by other airlines," Captain Gopinath said.

The entry of more players into the domestic skies has seen airfares heading southwards. The new entrant SpiceJet recently announced an introductory fare of Rs 99. Established players in the market, including Indian Airlines (IA), have also been offering schemes to woo passengers. IA has announced the Metro-Non-Metro scheme. The scheme allows a passenger flying with the airline to cover the non-metro leg of the journey for an additional payment of Rs 1,000. Therefore, a passenger flying between Delhi and Chennai and wanting to travel to Patna could do so by paying an additional Rs 1,000.

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