Last year, the civil aviation authority had enforced a yield improvement committee (agreed fares on the India sector from July 1) because families chose to travel earlier in the season to save higher costs.
The movement of passengers to destinations in India had started earlier this year, from mid-May, instead of the usual late-June, when schools of the expatriate community close for summer holidays, Debashis Golder, manager, Air India, was quoted as saying in the Peninsula newspaper.
"As a result, the airline was in a better position to accommodate all passengers and did not have to operate additional flights as was done earlier," he added.
According to industry sources, a large number of Indian families had chosen to travel earlier this summer to save on the higher fares that prevail during the season.
Air-India Express, the budget carrier of Air-India, is planning to operate scheduled services from Doha to destinations in India by April next year, Golder said. The low cost carrier has already started flights to India from the UAE and Oman.