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New Delhi/Bangalore, Nov. 1 The domestic airline sector is still assessing the impact of the Government decision of doing away with 5 per cent customs duty on ATF and the 15-17 per cent reduction in fuel prices in the four metro cities.

Although both the announcements were made on Friday, the sector is yet to firm up plans on whether the twin move should result in a drop in airline fares or surcharges.

Welcoming the cut in customs duty as a step in the right direction, the Chief Executive Officer of Jet Airways, Mr Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, told Business Line that the airline needed to asses the situation further.

“For the time being, the surcharge and the fare structure will remain unchanged. Despite the latest decreases, ATF prices are still 30-35 per cent higher as compared to March last year. The recent reduction in fuel prices have helped JetLite and Jet to come up with the new eight and 15-days advance purchase fares,” Mr Wolfgang pointed out.

Admitting that it is too early to make any pricing decision, the newly appointed President of the Delhi-based, low-cost airline IndiGo, Mr Aditya Ghosh, said that the situation is being monitored very closely.

The Director of SpiceJet, Mr Kishore Gupta, said that the airline will take a decision on pricing in the next 2-3 days after getting approvals from the airline board.

Kingfisher Airlines also plans to assess the impact of the reduction of ATF price on Monday, although there are no indications at the moment on whether it would be taking a look at the reduction of passenger fares.

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