Mumbai (PTI): National carrier Air India has slashed the last-minute bookings fares by half, giving a huge respite to passengers reeling under the impact of skyrocketing fares due to supply shortages after the grounding of Jet Airways, an official said Friday. 

"Air India has decided to help the last moment traveler by slashing the ticket prices by 50 per cent of selling price," the official said. 

The scheme, however, is available for bookings made four hours before the scheduled departure. 

Generally customers have to shell out more for last the minute travel than the selling price. However, in case of a demand-supply mismatch the difference is much higher, the official added. 

The offer is available for economy class travel on the entire domestic network.