chennai a summer low fare sale introduced by etihad airways and emirates and ticketing portals has brought down the air fare from chennai to destinations in the us for travel in april and mayetihads offer of return fare starting at rs 64000 to the us is aimed at encouraging passengers who have not planned their trips to plan a holiday but the offer has led to a general dip in airfare across airlines on the routethe summer months are peak travel season as families travel to the us to meet relatives there is a rs 10000 to rs 12000 decrease in the fare when compared to previous summer months because of the offer as the airlines in the middle east which fly via hubs in dubai abu dhabi and doha are offering cheaper tickets the cost of air travel to the us has come down compared to the airlines which fly via europe or the uk people need not spend more than a lakh to travel to the us this summerthe starting return fare for is at rs 67000 to new york and chicago while it is at rs 80000 to los angeles and rs 68000 to washington for travel in midapril these fares should have been higher by rs 10000 usuallyetihad emirates and qatar airways are most preferred by travellers from chennai etihad and emirates have an offer running which has led to a dip in fare but because of high demand some of the best fare are not available on weekends said basheer ahmed of metro travels he said foreign airlines have started to introduce offers on routes from india to the us via the middle east because the advance booking period window has reduced from six months to two monthspeople these days book tickets two to three months in advance on the route while there used to be long advance booking two years ago the offers are being introduced because people did not book seats for travel in april and may well in advance this year a trend different from last year the fare cut will now cater to people who prefer to book tickets now for travel end of april or mayflying by european airlines are not only expensive but the choice of hub is limited after dubai grew as a hub for transit to different destinations european carriers have begun facing tough competition to attract passengers who travel to the us besides the middle eastern countries have started to encourage travellers to make a stopover in dubai or abu dhabi before proceeding to destinations in the us by offering easy transit visa