Indian LCCs propose no-refund policy on fares

Low-cost carriers in India have lobbied the Indian regulator to allow them to introduce non-refundable fares in a bid to lower ticket prices overall to increase competition, and to offset the effects of excess capacity by lowering “last-minute” ticket prices. SpiceJet COO Sanjiv Kapoor wrote to the aviation ministry, stating that demand for air travel has reduced in India, which has led to lower load factors: “There are occasions when we fly with a lot of empty seats and customers complain why last-minute fares are so high. We are unable to discount our unused inventory close to the date of