Fuel Price Spike Hits Air India, 100 Flights to Europe, US, Australia, Singapore Cut Daily
Air India is set to cut nearly 100 flights a day. (Image Source: iStockphoto) Air India is set to cut nearly 100 flights a day across domestic and international routes amid the soaring jet fuel prices putting pressure on airlines. This will impact the services of the airlines, which operates around 1,100 flights daily, to Europe, North America, Australia and Singapore scheduled for June. Further, the oil marketing companies are due to revise jet fuel prices on Friday, a move the industry fears could deepen the crisis further. Global average jet fuel prices stood at $179.46 per barrel for the week ended April 24, up 80% from $99.40 at end-February. “We are not recovering even the operating cost on most flights. A sustained increase will force us to cut more,” a senior Air India official said, as reported by the Economic Times. Reports have also said that Air India is planning to make meals optional on its domestic and short international flights. Once this unbundling rolls out, passengers opting out of meals could have upwards of Rs 250 shaved off their ticket price. Further, the airlines is also planning to unbundle lounge access for business class passengers because those opting out of this, could get their tickets cheaper. The Centre has reduced the export duties on diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) for the next fortnight beginning May 1. The export duty (SAED) has been revised from Rs 55.5 per litre to Rs 23 per litre on diesel while on the Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) from Rs 42 per litre to Rs 33 per litre. Meanwhile, the export duty on Petrol continues to remain nil, the Finance Ministry said. The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), representing major carriers including Air India, IndiGo & SpiceJet, on Tuesday has written to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) seeking urgent government intervention on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) pricing, warning that the sector is under “extreme stress” amid the ongoing West Asia crisis. Federation of Indian Airlines has written to MoCA seeking temporary deferment of Excise duty on ATF, reduction of VAT in key states, and reinstatement of crack band in line with Pre agreed formula. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Business, Economy and around the World. Vikas Kumar is Deputy Editor (Business) at Times Now driving coverage across policy, economy and markets. He possesses nearly a decade of experience i... View More
