BA forced to withdraw discounts

NEW DELHI, OCT 7: British Airways, under pressure from other international airlines led by Air India AI, has withdrawn its discounted f...

NEW DELHI, OCT 7: British Airways, under pressure from other international airlines led by Air India AI, has withdrawn its discounted fares from the market.

The festive discounts amounting to 30 per cent for several destinations in Europe and the US were meant to be in place till November 30. However, the British airline has removed the discounts citing quot;commercial reasonsquot; for the move. British Airways drew the ire of its competitors at a meeting of the Board of Airline Representatives BAR held in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The meeting was attended by AI and all major west-bound carriers including Lufthansa German Airlines, Swiss Air, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Air France, and Scandinavian Airlines. quot;All international airlines agreed to the fact that no discounts will be offered. British Airways was also persuaded to come around to this point of viewquot; Air India regional director P K Sinha said.

A number of foreign airlines had followed-up with discounts of their own in the wake of the British Airwaysdiscounts announced on September 30.So a Delhi-London economy class ticket was discounted at Rs 32,000 while normal fares were around Rs 45,000. An economy class ticket to European cities was discounted at Rs 36,500 instead of normal fares of Rs 44,000. The discounts will now be withdrawn.

Airline sources said that the fare discounts had to be stopped before they led to a full-fledged fare war. Foreign airlines8217; earnings are already under pressure due to limited traffic and over-capacity on routes from India.

According to sources Gulf carriers such as Emirates were also responsible for quot;spoiling the marketquot; by offering low fares to European destinations. quot;Airlines such as Emirates are giving dirt cheap fares to London with a stop-over in Dubaiquot; said a foreign airline official. The month of October marks the beginning of the lean season for foreign airlines. In the past also, airlines have offered discounts to woo passengers during this season, maintaining that this marketing strategy makes sense.

TheIndian flag carrier AI has threatened to take up the issue of fare discounting with the union civil aviation ministry. AI wants to persuade the Indian authorities to cancel bilateral air talks with countries whose carriers do not toe the line on the fare front.