With the Air Costa airlines suspending its recently launched flight service between Madurai and Vijayawada till July 14, passengers who cancelled their tickets which they bought at attractive rates have no other option but to book in other airlines at a premium price.
Travel agents say air fare on this sector will remain high till the Air Costa services are restored. The airliner launched daily flight services between Vijayawada and Madurai, with stopovers in Chennai and Hyderabad, only on July 3. A week later, the aircraft developed a snag in its engine prompting the operator to ground its flight from July 10 to July 14.
“Private operators are cashing in on the situation by increasing the fares up to Rs.9,000 for the last minute bookings made by passengers who had to cancel their Air Costa tickets,” a travel agent said on Sunday. With four aircraft, Air Costa flies to nine cities across the country.
The Madurai flight had an occupancy rate of 90 to 95 per cent. The suspension move would affect the brand because the company faced a similar problem in the Coimbatore-Chennai sector, said a travel agent. K. R. Sridhar, a passenger of a cancelled flight, said, “I was upset when I was informed that my flight was cancelled. Luckily, I could book a ticket in another airlines and reach Madurai on time.” “The airliner should have kept a spare aircraft. Now it must work towards redeeming its image which is very difficult,” said B.S.G. Mustafa of Meraj Travels.
When contacted, R. Pramodh, vice-president (commercial), Air Costa, told The Hindu that it was not uncommon for an aircraft to develop a snag. “We had to suspend the service since the spares for Embraer jet aircraft must come from Brazil. Once we receive them, it will take just a matter of hours to resume the service,” he said.
“The airline will add two more aircraft to its fleet in October and November. The Vijayawada service will resume on Tuesday.” he added.
