Drop in last minute fares only to fill empty seats: Air India

Air India Wednesday rejected the charge that it was driving air fares down by offering cheaper ticket prices for the last minute travel against the industry's practise of increasing them manifold. "We are not driving down air fares. We are only filling empty seats by lowering last minute air fares to the level of AC-II class ticket prices of Rajdhani trains," Air India chairman and MD Ashwani Lohani said. In a move that check-mated its rivals like Jet Airways and Vistara on the pricing front, the carrier had early this month announced dropping its last minute fares to the level of AC II tier ticket prices of Rajdhani trains to 4 key destinations from Delhi. Later, it extended the offer on 7 other routes, giving jitters to the private airlines, which jack up their last minute fares to astronomical sums. <br/>