"We started the coupon scheme on Nov 1. Any economy class passenger can now upgrade to business class seat by buying the coupons which are worth Rs.4,000-6,000," an Air India official told IANS.
According to the official, the upgrades have been divided into two categories of travel starting from 750 km, for which the coupons are for Rs.4,000, and above 750 km for which the coupons are for Rs.6,000.
"The coupons are valid for travel from all major metro cities," the official said.
Reacting on the response to the scheme, the official said: "It's been only a few days, but the response is good. Passenger load factors have increased and there has been some positive impact on the revenues too."
The airline said that it initiated the scheme to curb revenue losses which occur due to low-business class bookings.
"Fares are a major thing for passengers especially in the domestic sector where economy seats are booked to 100 percent but some business class seats go empty. So it is better to operate the seat at less revenue than nothing at all," the official said.
The scheme comes after the flag carrier recently extended its short-term promotion which provided unlimited journeys for 15 days on domestic routes till January.
The offer entails the passengers to buy either a silver pass priced at Rs.35,000 for unlimited travel on economy class within 15 days or a platinum pass priced at Rs.70,000 for travel on executive class.
"This scheme has also received good response from the passengers and we will see how we can garner more passenger share," the official said.
In August, Air India had a 17.4 percent share in the domestic market and operated flights to 66 destinations.