COMMODITISING AIR TRAVEL: Jeh Wadia, Managing Director, GoAir, at a press conference in New Delhi on Friday. — Photo: Ramesh Sharma

NEW DELHI: Budget carrier GoAir on Friday announced that it would offer concessions on its tickets to customers who succeed in getting a ticket from a rival airline that is cheaper than its own on the same sector.

Announcing the competitive move to "commoditise'' air travel, GoAir Managing Director Jeh Wadia told reporters here that "if the price paid for the ticket bought on a competing airline is lower than the price paid for the GoAir ticket, then GoAir will adjust double the difference between its fare and the fare of the competing carrier as credit,'' which can be used to purchase GoAir tickets.

"GoAir will also reimburse the cost of cancellation (if) done immediately, of the other airline's ticket as credit, which can be used to purchase GoAir tickets,'' he said. Mr. Wadia said the tickets of the airline at present ranged from Rs. 999 to Rs. 2,999. The fares for the Delhi-Mumbai flight would range between Rs. 999 and Rs. 4,999.

The airline also announced the addition of its latest Airbus A-320 to its fleet, but the aircraft under a deal with the BCCI would, for the present, be used to transport the Indian and England cricket teams to the venues of the ongoing one-day international series.

Expansion plans

Announcing its expansion plan, Mr. Wadia said GoAir, which now had three aircraft in its fleet, would add five more by the year-end, get ten additional ones next year and another 15 in 2008, taking the total fleet strength to 33 in three years.

The airline, which now covers 14 cities with 28 flights, would connect Mumbai and Delhi to Jammu and Srinagar and launch a Delhi-Chennai flight. The A-320s operated by GoAir are configured in an all-economy 180-seat configuration. — PTI

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