New Delhi, Jan 28 (IANS): Days after the aviation regulator allowed it to open fresh bookings, cash-strapped budget passenger carrier SpiceJet Wednesday launched its discount scheme starting at Rs.1,499 for one way advance booking on all direct flights.

The airline is offering 500,000 seats through the new discount scheme. Bookings have to be made from Jan 28 to Jan 30, and are valid for travel between Feb 15 and June 30, 2015.

The scheme is valid on all direct flights on SpiceJet's domestic network.

The airline said that such offers are an integral part of the LCC (low cost carrier) pricing model. The offers are meant to sell in advance at attractive prices seats that would otherwise be expected to go empty, thereby improving revenues.

"Unlike a bar of soap that can be put back on the shelf and sold later, an airline seat is the ultimate perishable commodity. Once the aircraft takes off, that empty seat's revenue is lost forever," said Sanjiv Kapoor, chief operating officer, SpiceJet.

The airline is in the middle of a re-structuring programme after going through financial turbulence in recent times.

"These carefully designed sales helped increase our unit revenues in 2014 relative to previous years, and helped drive significant passenger and market growth in the Indian market," Kapoor added.