Faced with the prospect of $1.5 billion losses owing to a slowdown in passenger traffic and high aviation turbine fuel (ATF) costs, airline companies are cancelling or cutting deliveries of new aircraft due this year or sub-leasing them to other carriers globally.
After failing to convince states to keep petroleum products within the ambit of the proposed goods and services tax (GST), the Centre has finally relented. It has agreed to the proposal of the empowered committee of state finance ministers to keep petroleum products like crude, motor spirit, aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and high-speed diesel out of GST.
Jet fuel (ATF) price on Saturday was slashed by 4.5 per cent and that of commercial LPG used in hotels and restaurants by Rs 25.5 per 19-kg cylinder. The price of a 19-kg commercial LPG cylinder was cut to Rs 1,859.50 in the national capital from Rs 1,885, according to a price notification from state-owned fuel retailers. This is the sixth reduction in price of commercial LPG since June, in step with softening international energy prices.
The government is considering a ban on export of kerosene oil (jet kero) and aviation turbine fuel (ATF), which are similar to kerosene, to boost supplies of kerosene for public distribution system.
Oil marketing companies to lose 10 paise on petrol and Rs 6 per litre on diesel from next month.
The increase in prices of jet fuel by about nine per cent would put an additional burden of Rs 550 crore (Rs 5.5 billion) on national carrier Indian and the airline has asked the government to consider levying a fuel surcharge on air travel or hiking
Indian Airlines and Air-India are expected to hike airfares by ten per cent following a green signal from Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.
Households continued to bear the brunt of increased cost of living with inflation rising by 0.35 per cent to 7.96 per cent for week ended August 7, mainly due to costlier vegetables, petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel.
Currently, OMCs provide A-I a two-month credit. "There was a request from the committee of secretaries to extend the credit on ATF to three months from the existing two months to help Air India.
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Observing that the prime reason for these losses was high fuel cost which constituted almost 40-50 per cent of an airline's total costs, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said the aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices were high due to rising base price and "very high VAT imposed by state governments."
After eight successive price cuts, state-run oil firms on Thursday raised jet fuel prices by 3.4 per cent reflecting increase in international oil prices.In Mumbai, the home for nation's busiest airport, ATF price will rise by Rs 1,068.87 to Rs 32,447.65 per kl.
State-owned oil marketing companies have cut the prices of aviation turbine fuel, or jet fuel, by 12 per cent from midnight tonight - the first fortnightly price revision.
The airline has an annual wage bill of Rs 3,100 crore (Rs 31 billion) and the report has said as many as 2,600 employees will retire during the period of freeze.
There is no proposal from Indian Airlines to sell its assets for meeting daily expenses and neither has it sold any for the purpose, Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain said on Monday.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has booked cases at Mumbai and Delhi against private airlines Jet Airways and Air Sahara for non-payment of customs duty, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.
Indian Airlines fares have been raised by 15 per cent across the board with immediate effect due to a massive increase in the prices of aviation turbine fuel, Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain
Indian Airlines is likely to suffer a loss of Rs 98.90 crore (Rs 989 million) in 2002-2003 due to increase in the price of aviation turbine fuel and hike in insurance premium, landing and navigational charges and levy of customs duty.
Former Petroleum Minister Ram Naik has flayed the UPA government lowering prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF), saying India is the only country where ATF is cheaper than petrol.
'Who tried engine relight?' 'If the first officer was the one flying at takeoff, the captain may have taken control immediately post-thrust loss.' 'But the AAIB report doesn't clarify any of this.'
Confronted with spiralling aviation turbine fuel prices, which account for half an airline's operating costs in India, several low-cost and full-service carriers will go for a steep increase in fares that could vary from 5 to 20 per cent, from June 20. Today's announcement comes three weeks after fares were raised 8 to 10 per cent following a rise in ATF prices (which increased 18 per cent last month).
'When there are glaring errors in the report, how can you trust anything in it?'
Jet fuel (ATF) rates were on slashed by a steep 12.5 per cent, the sixth straight reduction in prices since August, as international oil prices slumped to five-year low levels.
State-run oil firms on Thursday cut aviation turbine fuel (ATF) or jet fuel prices by 4.3 per cent in view of halving of the customs duty on the fuel to five per cent. From today, ATF in Delhi will cost Rs 66,226.66 per kilo litre, down Rs 3,000.42 per kl, while in Mumbai the price has been cut by 4.36 per cent to Rs 68,626.87 per kl, an Indian Oil official said.
The GST Council on Saturday postponed a decision on cutting tax rate on life and health insurance premiums, officials said. The 55th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state counterparts, decided that some more technicalities needed to be ironed out and tasked the GoM for further deliberations.
ATF price in Delhi was reduced by Rs 4,765.5 per kilolitre (kl), or 11.9 per cent.
Inflation based on the wholesale price index zoomed to 6.12 per cent for the week ended January 6
Jet fuel prices on Monday were hiked by a steep 5.3 per cent - the tenth straight increase this year -- to an all-time high, in line with a surge in global energy prices. The price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) -- the fuel that helps aeroplanes fly -- was hiked by Rs 6,188.25 per kilolitre, or 5.29 per cent, to Rs 1,23,039.71 per kl (Rs 123 per litre) in the national capital, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. This is the 10th straight increase in jet fuel prices this year.
Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer, positioned adequate stocks of all petroleum products -- petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG in the state.
The wholesale prices-based inflation rose by 0.21 per cent at 4.82 per cent during the week ended August 5, as against 4.61 per cent for the previous week, with some manufactured products along with aviation turbine fuel becoming costlier.
Indian carriers can pass on some of the reduction in cost due to the dramatic fall in aviation turbine fuel prices to customers without taking a major hit on their bottomlines. Airlines have also cut costs on a variety of areas, including manpower and distribution, while increasing the fares steeply.
As all airlines have raised carriage charges, private couriers have increased their tariffs 8-20 per cent. India Post, on the other hand, has not tinkered with its tariffs at all. As a result, India Post's tariff is 70 per cent cheaper for domestic destinations and 30 per cent cheaper for international destinations.
Low-cost carriers SpiceJet and IndiGo were two of the main traders of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) at the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX), which started trading of ATF futures on Monday, market sources said. Around Rs 34.8 crore worth of ATF was traded till five on Monday evening.
Bleeding Indian carriers, which suffered another setback in the form of a 7 per cent-hike in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices on Tuesday, have decided against raising fares this month. This is the first time this year that the carriers are not increasing prices in spite of a hike in ATF rates.
The Wadia family-owned GoAir, the country's smallest low-cost carrier, has decided to retrench 10 per cent of its staff. This, it hopes, will help prune its wage bill by 40 per cent -- a clear indication that the axe will fall on several senior-level jobs.
Within a week of shifting from carbonised air-tickets to e-tickets, the Indian air carriers have managed to save estimated Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 milllion), providing them a way to cut costs after the rise in Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices.
Air passengers in the Asia Pacific region continue to reap the benefits of the fare war unleashed by the world's leading airlines despite mounting cost of the aviation turbine fuel.
The hike in aviation turbine fuel prices is likely to lead to a 10-14 per cent increase in fares on metro routes and long-haul flights. The oil companies hiked ATF prices by 14 per cent as a result of global rise in crude oil prices over the last few months. Now, most airlines, including Jet Airways and SpiceJet, are looking at imposing a differential surcharge - a smaller increase on shorter routes than longer routes.
Oil companies have slashed Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices by Rs 2,221 per kilo litre with effect from midnight on Wednesday.
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