Air Deccan to launch rupee 1 ticket to rope in travellers

Believe it or not, India's domestic low-cost airline Air Deccan has announced fares of one rupee on its flights.

Four passengers per flight will be entitled to the fares if they book their tickets three months in advance, according to Air Deccan Managing Director G R Gopinath.

"In a few days, we will launch the one rupee ticket booked either through internet or our offices and agents," he told reporters in Bangalore, the headquarters of the airline.

Gopinath, however, said tax and airport security charges would bring the total cost of the ticket to Rs 222.

Air Deccan, launched in 2003, has tickets beginning from Rs 500. On every Airbus of the airlines, 40 seats are reserved for passengers paying Rs 500, Gopinath said.

The announcement of rupee one ticket came ahead of the launch of another budget airline Kingfisher Airlines, owned by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, this weekend.

India's private low-cost airlines have fashioned themselves on Ryanair and easyJet of Britain and offer 30 to 40 percent cheaper tickets than full-service Indian air carriers.

There has been intense competition among emerging low-cost airlines to grab a slice of the burgeoning domestic civil aviation market, particularly to rope in the budget travellers. The domestic civil aviation market has so far been dominated by three to four airlines in public and private sectors.