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The nearly 8 per cent hike in aviation turbine fuel prices from May 1 will not have an immediate impact on airfares, officials of state-owned and private airlines said on Tuesday. Since airlines had increased fares barely a fortnight ago, a fresh hike was unlikely, they said.
The price hike of aviation turbine fuel in the four metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata is in the range of 7.02 per cent to 7.96 per cent.
Aviation turbine fuel will now cost 7.92 per cent more in Delhi at Rs 33,035.51 per kilolitre (including sales tax) compared with Rs 30,608.39 on April 1.
"This (fuel price hike) will certainly have an effect on our pockets and we are calculating the impact. But no decision has been taken as yet," said Ashok Sharma, general manager, public relations Indian Airlines.
"Prices were raised a fortnight ago and we have to see if it can be hiked again," Sharma said.
Indian Airlines along with private carriers, Jet Airways and Air Sahara, had hiked airfares 12 per cent from April 15 after oil companies had raised aviation fuel prices to Rs 32,250 per kilolitre in April from Rs 27,250.
Jet Airways is also not planning to pass on the impact of the fuel price hike to its customers as of now. It prefers a "wait and watch" policy for cues from other airlines, said Sivanandan, general manager, public relations.
"We are not planning to revise our fares now," Sivanandan said.
Deccan Airways, which had announced after the April fuel hike that it would not raise passenger fares for the next three months, has also refrained from commenting on a possible fare hike.