The Hindu Business Line : Air travel to cost more on fuel price rise

Domestic air travel will become costlier from December 3. With the cost of aviation turbine fuel increasing by 13-14 per cent during the current month compared to November, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airline on Friday announced that they were each raising the fuel surcharge by Rs 300.

“From December 3, Jet Airways would increase the fuel surcharge to Rs 1,650 from the current Rs 1,350. The increase in fuel surcharge fully covers the extra cost that the airline would be incurring per passenger due to the increase in ATF prices,” said the airline Chief Executive Officer, Mr Wolfgang Prock-Schauer.

Fuel surcharge up

In a statement, Kingfisher Airlines also announced that from December 3 it would increase the fuel surcharge by Rs 300.

The Executive Chairman, Spicejet, Mr Siddhanta Sharma, and Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo Airlines, Mr Bruce Ashby, also felt that both the airlines would have to raise their fuel surcharge. “The exact quantum of the surcharge is being looked into and would be announced in the next day or two,” Mr Sharma said.

Officials of various airlines felt that with ATF prices increasing by Rs 5,000-6,000 per kilolitre they would have to increase the fuel surcharge by between Rs 250 and Rs 350 to meet increasing costs. ATF accounts for 35-40 per cent of the operating costs of airlines.

Airlines point out that they were left with no option but to increase the fuel surcharge as there was an increase of Rs 6,026.81 per cent per kilolitre in the price of ATF being uplifted at Delhi in December compared to the previous month. Similarly, during the current month airlines were paying an additional Rs 6,437 per kilolitre of fuel in Chennai.

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