AI offers fares matching AC train charges

Offering air fare prices close to air-conditioned train fares Air India has launched a 60-day advance purchase fare scheme to woo holiday makers. The advance purchase fare (Apex) tickets are available for sale on various routes and customers can travel from the middle of May, the airline said in a statement.

This latest Air India (AI) offer comes on the heels of the cash-strapped national carrier announcing 30-day and seven-day special fares recently.

The Apex scheme targets vacation travellers during the peak holiday season, luring them from train to air travel and is also an attempt to strengthen AI foothold in the leisure travel market, an Air India spokesperson said. The national carrier has priced the tickets close to AC train fares.

An all-inclusive 60-day advance purchase fare on the Delhi-Mumbai sector would cost Rs 3,981 while on the Delhi–Lucknow route it would cost Rs 2,562.

A first-class AC train ticket from Delhi to Mumbai on the Rajdhani would cost about Rs 4,000. A first-class AC ticket on the Lucknow Mail superfast would cost around Rs 1,600.

Air India has announced an all-inclusive Mumbai-Kolkata fare of Rs 4,556, Mumbai-Bangalore Rs 2,930, Delhi-Chennai Rs 4,852, Delhi-Kolkata and Delhi-Hyderabad Rs 4,012. Kolkata-Hyderabad and Kolkata-Chennai would cost Rs 3,798, according to airlines.