Promoters of SpiceJet do not have funds to bail out the airlines of dire consequences.
Airbus hasn't bagged orders from India in the last two years, but country head Kiran Rao is bullish on opportunities.
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.
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.
Jet Airways, Kingfisher and NACIL, which operates Air India, owe over Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) to the oil PSUs in unpaid fuel bills, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said.
The biggest let down for India's aviation sector has been the failure of the government to privatise Air India, says Anjuli Bhargava.
LPG rates were last hiked on November 1 by Rs 2.05 per cylinder. Prior to that rate was hiked on October 28 by Rs 1.5 per cylinder on account of hike in commission paid to dealers.
The National Aviation Company of India (NACIL), the entity that came into being after the merger of national carriers Air India and Indian, has increased its working capital limit to around Rs 9,500 crore (Rs 95 billion) in order to meet the recent hikes in fuel prices.
Overall, the Survey warned that unless shifts in the vision of development were articulated and embraced, the Indian economy would lose the chance to move to a high-growth trajectory.
Even as growth in traffic on chartered flights has fallen 6 to 8 per cent over the past year, rising fuel prices are forcing private charter operators to raise tariffs a substantial 20 per cent from September 1. India has more than 50 non-scheduled operators, which include helicopter operators like Global Vectra, aircraft operators like Ran Air and Taj Air and companies like Deccan Aviation Ltd that fly both helicopters and aircraft.
An airfare regulatory authority likely soon.
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).
Earlier, PE firms such as Goldman Sachs and Indigo Partners had evinced interest in the Indian aviation market.
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.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora will meet Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and chiefs of airlines and oil companies to discuss a solution for dues of over Rs 2,000 crore that the domestic carriers owe the state-owned oil marketers on fuel sales.
Deccan Aviation, which owns budget carrier Simplify Deccan, reported an improved performance for the third quarter ended March 2008, increasing its yields by 36 per cent and reducing operating losses by 45 per cent. The airline, however, continues to bleed and posted a net loss Rs 199.6 crore during the quarter (against a loss of Rs 213 crore for the same quarter last year), thanks to soaring oil prices, which increased 36 per cent during the quarter.
The national carrier's capacity is expected to grow by 9.2 per cent with the addition of six more Boeing 787 Dreamliners to the fleet, they said. As of February this year, the airline has 13 Dreamliners in its fleet out of a total order of 27.
This is three and a half times the loss in the same quarter a year ago.
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.
Airlines in India have suffered a staggering loss of Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) in 2007-08, and it could double in the current fiscal depending on which way fuel prices are headed, Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla said.
The lower quarterly profit was mainly due to rise in fuel costs, foreign exchange loss and lower yield
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.
Inflation rose to over nine-month high at 5.11 per cent for the week ended March 1, due to rise in prices of some manufactured items and aviation turbine fuel, dashing all hopes of interest rate cuts by the RBI to boost the sagging industrial production.The Wholesale Price Index-based Inflation rate stood at 5.02 per cent in the previous week and 6.51 per cent in the correspondingly week a year earlier.
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.
The bookings of tickets under the four-day "festive sale" offer have begun from Monday for the travel period from September 18, 2018 to March 30, 2019, IndiGo said.
Pusapati was given detailed presentations on various aspects of the sector by senior officials of the Ministry.
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Officials in India's civil aviation ministry are now expected to meet SpiceJet stakeholders within a couple of days to discuss the revival plan
Inflation increased to 3.11 per cent for the week ended November 3, compared to 2.97 per cent a week ago, mainly due to rise in prices of food items, petroleum products and manufactured articles.
There's talk that the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group is eyeing a minority stake in the carrier. It's also possible that private equity players like Texas Pacific Group may want a slice of the low-cost carrier's equity.
Private airlines will explain before the Delhi High Court the reasons for imposing a Rs 150 per head surcharge to meet additional jet fuel expenses while aircraft hovers over major airports due to air traffic congestion.
Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's wish to levy indirect tax on petrol unlikely to be taken up
Inflation based on the wholesale price index zoomed to 6.12 per cent for the week ended January 6
The new government may also introduce a separate scheme for revival of stranded gas-based power projects
The 16-hour flight will be the first direct one from India to the US west coast.
Airline officials said the operational launch may be held in the later part of October.
The first Airbus A-320 aircraft of Tata-SIA joint venture Vistara airline, painted with its logo and livery, landed at the IGI Airport in New Delhi on Wednesday, taking the carrier a step closer to its launch.
