IANS

Bangalore, Nov 6:  India's leading budget carrier Air Deccan has tied up with Oxigen Infovision Ltd, a Gurgaon-based online payment services firm, to sell tickets on mobile phones through the short messaging service (SMS).

Air Deccan will offer flight booking to passengers with mobile connectivity after they register with the airline. Transaction fee for each ticket is Rs.50.

The service, named 'mFly', is a prepaid user account, accessible on a mobile phone (SMS # 56070) to book a seat in any Air Deccan flight, pay cash and generate an e-ticket from Oxigen outlets located across the country.

'On registration, a customer is given a four-digit password as an SMS on his or her mobile. The password enables the customer to charge or top-up the user account at any Oxigen outlet and book a ticket,' Air Deccan chairman G.R. Gopinath told reporters Monday at a demo of the new distribution facility here.

'The ticket number or PNR is sent as an SMS confirming the booking. An e-ticket is also sent to the passenger's e-mail ID,' he added.

By using the SMS twice, one for flight information and fare and the other for booking the e-ticket, a passenger can avail of the special service anytime from Oxigen's 35,000 outlets across the country.

'With over 200 million mobile users and still growing, the SMS facility will give access to those customers located remotely and cannot access flight booking through other means such as Internet, travel agents and intermediaries like post offices, petrol stations and retail outlets where Air Deccan's points of sale are located,' Gopinath pointed out.

In addition, the booked passengers will get SMS alerts on flight delays, flight status and its availability on a future date along with the prevailing fare.

'Of the total bookings on a daily basis, about 40 percent are done through Internet on our website, 35 percent from IATA and non-IATA travel agents, 10-15 percent through our 4,000 points of sale at petrol-filling stations, post offices, cyber cafes and cafeterias and the balance 10 percent from our airport counters,' he informed.

According to Oxigen chairman and managing director Pramod Saxena, the innovative solution makes the pre-paid account a virtual wallet for availing the service

'The new facility will revolutionise the payment market by allowing people who do not use credit or debit cards on the Internet to book flight tickets,' said Saxena.