Air India to woo economy flyers to travel business class

PTI

New Delhi, 07 November 2011: Targetting additional revenue of Rs 1,000-1,200 crore annually, Air India would now woo economy flyers to travel business class by selling them upgrade coupons in the coming weeks.

 

The new initiative, which is part of the national carrier’s turnaround plan, would be launched during the winter schedule and available for both domestic and international travellers, airline sources said.

 

The prices of these upgrade vouchers would range from Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 in the domestic sectors and USD 200-300 for the international flights to and from destinations like London and Toronto, they said.

 

The vouchers, which could be bought from the Air India website, counters and other designated centres, would enable an economy class passenger to upgrade to business class at the time of checking in, subject to availability of seats, the sources said.

 

On the international sector, Air India is targetting to raise business class load factor by 50 per cent, they said. Air India’s average international load factor is about 60 per cent and domestic between 70-73 per cent.

 

"We want to increase our revenues by Rs 100-150 crore every month compared to what we earned last year. We are therefore targetting an additional revenue collection of about Rs 1,000-1,200 crore annually," the sources said.

 

In another freebie to attract passengers, Air India has decided to give mileage points to all those who book tickets on its website, apart from a concession which is already being given on ticket prices.

 

The sources said free mileage points would be given on the company’s Frequent Flyer programme when tickets are booked on the site.