Railway passengers are going to have something to be happy about in the future, with a new system of giving away flight tickets for wait-listed passengers. If you have booked a ticket and it is not confirmed and is wait-listed, then the IRCTC will offer flight tickets in lieu of the rail tickets which helps you to complete the journey by air for a competitive fare. GoAir has come on board with this plan along with the Railways PSU and have sold nearly 100 tickets for wait-listed railway passengers.

This is a fantastic initiative and there are discussions going on about a possible tie-up expansion with SpiceJet along with other domestic carriers adding to the scheme. This will be valid for the passengers who have booked their tickets at least three days in advance. The wait-listed passengers will be notified via an e-mail about the offer, so that they can decide, whether they would like to take up the offer, if they want to convert their wait-listed railway ticket to a flight ticket at an additional cost but competitive when compared to the market rates.

"We have also entered into an understanding with SpiceJet under the scheme and plan to rope in other domestic carriers too," said IRCTC spokesperson Sandip Dutta. "For such passengers, the airline ticket would be competitively priced and cheaper by as much as 30-40 per cent," he said.

With an average accommodation of about 70 to 75 per cent, most of the domestic airlines fly with about 20 per cent seats empty and IRCTC plans to make the best use of it. This is a win win situation for both airlines and IRCTC. This is a welcome initiative, which is to the benefit of the passengers. This scheme will help the passenger to avail the facility due to the availability of the air ticket for 30 to 40 percent lesser than the market rate.

By Premji