NEW DELHI: Air India is set to increase fuel charges across its domestic and international flights, a move that will soon be reflected in ticket prices. This comes shortly after IndiGo implemented a similar hike in its fuel charges.
According to multiple sources within the airline, the increase is imminent, although the exact details are still being finalised. The decision is driven by the continued rise in Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) costs.
A top Air India official told TNIE, “Our domestic hike will follow specific slabs. The slabs are likely to be fixed from 0 to 500km, 500 km to 1000 km, 1000 to 1500 km and so on. There will be different charges levied on each slab. We will definitely be hiking them across our routes.” The exact details will be made public after getting the board approval, he said.
The hike in international fares will depend on the region the flight is operated to, the source said. “We are the largest Indian operator internationally. We operate 180 international departures on an average daily and run flights to the US, Europe, UK and Australia.”
ATF prices for international operations by Indian carriers have nearly doubled to over Rs 2 lakh per kilolitre in a month from Rs 96,000 earlier. “It is totally unsustainable to run international operations due to this huge hike,” another source said.
All international flights to Europe need to travel an additional 3.5 hours due to the Middle East crisis. “This has resulted in a 30% extra fuel usage by us,” he said. “Flights from India to New York which flew non-stop now have to make a stop at Rome for refuelling. The parking charges in a new City, international fuel charges and crew change all contribute to a substantial increase in operations,” the source added.
IndiGo raised its fuel surcharge to up to Rs 950 on domestic routes and upto Rs 10,000 on flights to Europe from April 2.
Though the government had intervened and limited the increase in the ATF prices for domestic flights to 25%, no cap has been fixed for international travel.
The monitoring by the International Air Travel Association indicates an over 130% increase in fuel prices for the region on a month-on-month comparison.