And thus begin the fare sales for 2015 - AI versus 9W

Twelve days. That's all it has taken Indian aviation to launch fare sales. Last year, the leader in this pack was SpiceJet. Sadly, they're in no state to compete here this year. But late last evening, Air India was the first off the blocks. News reports also suggest that they've become profitable (really? when, where, how???), but I'm not sure that's in any way connected with the Spring Sale 2015 that they've launched, offering tickets starting Rs 1,557 per sector.



Buy before 18 January 2015 for travel between 16 January and 30 April 2015. You can check out some of the fares (base and YQ fuel surcharge) here, and book on www.airindia.in.

And earlier today, Jet Airways responded with their own offer for identical starting fares (Rs 1,557).


Almost similar conditions, except that travel dates end by 15 April 2015, but date changes are permitted for a Rs 2,000 fee.

For MAA-DEL (my most-travelled sector), I can see return fares in the region of Rs 9,900 on both AI and 9W. However, AI shows a lot more availability and consistent low-fares across all its flights, as compared to Jet Airways. Here's the MAA-DEL example, and the outcomes and observations are quite similar across other metro-to-metro routes as well.



Both AI's and 9W's offers are bookable on the airlines' websites, as also travel portals.



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