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No more low fare tickets with airlines this season CUCKOO PAUL TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2005 12:15:31 AM] NRI Special Offer! MUMBAI: Cheap domestic air fares may now be a thing of the past, at least for the next two to three months. Airlines are making the most of a huge demand for seats as they move into the peak season. Sales of low-fare tickets (called buckets in travel parlance) have been stopped and seats are being sold only at the higher fare levels, airline sources said. "Air fares for November going forward up to the beginning of January are 20-25% higher than September fares," travel agency sources said. The hike was partly due to fuel prices, which rose 10%, and partly because seats are now being sold at higher fare levels. Airline load factors in the July-September period were low and a lot of inventory was sold at low prices to fill up seats. Jet Airways' executive director Saroj Dutta told ET that margins were under pressure in the second quarter. However, passenger load factors this month have gone up and forward bookings for the next three months look very healthy, sources said. Though the demand is not uniform across the country, seats on the metro routes are selling like hot cakes despite new capacity addition. The Mumbai-Delhi route, for instance, now has 40 flights per day each way. One of the busiest destinations this Diwali, going right up to the New Year, is Goa. "Goa is very hot and tickets are sold out from mid-December right up to the first week of January," said Manoj Chacko, who heads sales at Kingfisher Airlines. Fares may go up further if demand keeps increasing at the current rate, sources said. -------- Its high time the slot restrictions at Dabolim were dispensed with to improve supply and reduce prices.
