Overview on recent Airlines Promotions:
- Airasia gave away a million free tickets for travel between Jan 3 & May 8 2011.
- MAS did not currently have a 'free ticket' campaign going on.
- Jetstar has launched its popular ''Take a friend for Free'' promotion.
- Singapore Tiger Airways promoted over 30,000 free seats on flights across Australia to major cities like Melbourne & Sydney in April last year.
According to the Star Newspaper,
On the reason for certain budget airlines that gave low one-way fares or even free flights to certain destinations at specific times of the year, the foreign analyst said these airlines would have calculated how many seats that would be left unoccupied for flights to certain destinations in a year, before giving away free or discounted flights.
“There is negligible cost or loss in giving discounted or free flights and it’s good for promotion and branding. The airline would not benefit by having vacant seats on flights anyway, and the person getting a free flight would likely book a return-ticket via the same airline,” he said.
Moreover, the foreign analyst said, some budget airlines had devised ways of getting additional revenue stream from its air travellers by cross-selling products and other services such as food and drinks on planes, and providing affordable accommodation to various destinations.
