Saturday, March 19 2005 10:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: In a fresh round of fare war, private carrier Air Sahara yesterday (Mar 18, 2005) announced launch of its flights to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore from May with an introductory round-trip fare of only Rs 10,000 and low-cost Air India Express unveiled discounted fare to Persian Gulf.

"While the first Singapore-Delhi flight would start on May 11, the Chennai-Kuala Lumpur service would be launched on May 14. Both return services would be daylight flights," Air Sahara CEO Rono J Dutta said in New Delhi.

The introductory return fares for both sectors have been fixed at Rs 10,000, he said adding this is lower than the fare on some major routes in India.

The lowest available market fares for both these destinations is Rs 16,000.

Dutta said that the flights to Singapore and the Malaysian capital would be operated by Boeing 737-800s and Boeing 737-700s respectively. The sale of tickets on the two would be opened on March 30 and these would be sold through the general sales agents in foreign markets also, he said.

Air India Express, the no-frill airlines of Air India, said it would offer a maximum discount of 50 percent to fare to Gulf destinations.

The quantum of discount would depend on how much in advance you book the tickets. The earlier you are, the more the discount, Civil Aviation Secretary Ajay Prasad said.