"It affected everybody and we suffered too...the prices are really going up right now. But we hope it will reach a peak and will reduce," G R Gopinath, managing director, Air Deccan said.
The airline had earlier announced a 15 per cent increase in fares, and the hike was attributed to the rising prices of the aviation turbine fuel.
According to International Air Transport Association estimates, the global aviation fuel bill is likely to reach a whopping $97 billion in the current fiscal from $44 billion in 2003, creating a $7.4 bilion loss to the industry globally.
Stating the government's decision to allow airlines to hedge ATF from the international market was a good move, Gopinath said the airline had already requested the government to allow private carriers to hedge fuel from abroad.
"We have got a clearance from the civil aviation ministry and the issue has been taken up with the finance ministry...it should also be approved by Reserve Bank of India. We hope a positive decision will come soon," he said.
But this is not a time to hedge as the prices are too high. "We normally hedge when the prices are low. And we are hoping for a good time to do that," Gopinath said.
The union government has already given clearance to the national carrier Air-India to hedge 10 per cent of fuel from the international market to compete with the cruising crude prices.
Referring to the fleet augmentation, Gopinath said the airline would add 10 aircraft in the current fiscal. "This fiscal we have already signed for five more A-320s and the same number of ATRs. Now we have seven Airbus."
The airline said it will fly four million passengers in the current fiscal, which is nearly 25 per cent of the total number of passengers who flew last year domestically. Sixteen million was the number of domestic air travellers in the last year.
Meanwhile, the airline on Monday joined hands with Delhi-based AVA Merchandising to launch an in-flight shopping scheme. The scheme, 'Brand for Less' offers shopping at over 10,000 feet during the flight at a reduced cost.
"This is a value addition to those flying with Air Deccan. The facility would be available in all 146 daily flights of the company," Gopinath said.
The scheme would be implemented with immediate effect and the company targets sale of approximately 25,000 branded products per month. The figure is likely to increase as the airline adds to its fleet strength in the near future.
The products would be available at a huge discount over the market retail price, he added.
