The middle-class Indian's dreams have come true. Thanks to ticket prices going down and attractive fare options from domestic air carriers, holiday makers are literally taking to the skies. Besides, the affordable ticket rates are providing regular train travellers to switch to air travel. The Apex tickets can only be availed of by Indian nationals and foreigners holding resident or work permits.

While the three major domestic carriers, Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and Air Sahara have their own schemes, the credit for starting an era of low-cost nationwide air travel in India, must go to the newcomer, Air Deccan, which created Indian aviation history when it flew its first batch of passengers to New Delhi from Bangalore on tickets for as low as Rs. 500. Styled along the lines of the Irish budget airline Ryanair and British low-cost carrier EasyJet, Air Deccan has introduced a basket of fares with the lowest at Rs 500 (plus taxes) and the highest going up to 75 percent of the airline's regular fares. Under the scheme for the Bangalore-Delhi flight, 30 early-bird passengers pay Rs. 500 while 90 seats are available for Rs. 5,000. The rest pay Rs. 5,000 to 8,000 for remaining seats. A one-way fare on any of the main carriers would be approximately Rs. 10,400.

Air Deccan keeps its operating costs down by employing fewer staff and selling advertising space on aircraft. Unlike the other airlines, the food available on board is sold. The other way that the airline has planned to cut costs is by keeping its ticket booking very simple. E-tickets can be bought over the Internet using a credit card. Tickets can also be booked through a travel agent, but while the airline will not pay any commission to the agent, they are free to charge the customer a service fee.

In its bid to attract second A/c class train passengers, the state-owned Indian Airlines too announced new apex rates sometime ago, for tickets purchased 28 days in advance. The D-28 segment valid for travel on the Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Hyderabad, Delhi-Bangalore, Delhi-Chennai, Kolkata-Mumbai, Kolkata-Bangalore and Chennai-Kolkata sectors, was in addition to the D-7 (one week advance) and D-21 (three weeks advance), under the Smart Apex scheme. The D-28 fares are available for sale on one way or round trips as against round trip fares offered by Air Sahara.

The 30-day advance fare offered by Air Sahara, incidentally, is valid throughout the year. Known as the SurPrice Fare Schme, the travel itinerary demands a Sunday - between the day of departure and return - away from the destination city. Additionally, the tickets do not permit travel on Sunday.

Jet Airways has its brand of apex fares known as the Super Apex Fares. These are also low fares that entail substantial savings over normal fares and have the usual condition of booking - at least 30 days prior to a flight. Other than the Super Apex Fares, Jet has seasonal promotional schemes for excursions and point-to-point fares, which are revised regularly.

A selection of Apex and Air Deccan fares is carried a few pages later. However, since these are revised regularly, it is advisable to contact your travel agent or the local airline's office for the latest fares.