Govt may grant infrastructure status to the aviation industry to enable it to access finances at cheaper rates
Air India had last year faced about two-month-long strike by its pilots.
In Mumbai, jet fuel costs Rs 71,940.36 per kl as against Rs 73,306.89 per kl previously, IOC said.
Jet fuel or ATF price on Wednesday was cut by almost 6 per cent after four rounds of monthly increases since July, while commercial cooking gas (LPG) rates were raised by a steep Rs 101.5 per 19-kg cylinder in line with international benchmarks. However, the price of domestic LPG - used in household kitchens for cooking purposes - remained unchanged at Rs 903 per 14.2-kg cylinder. Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price was cut by Rs 6,854.25, or 5.79 per cent, in the national capital to Rs 111,344.92 per kl from Rs 118,199.17, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.
Domestic air passenger traffic plunged around 43 per cent month-on-month at 64 lakh in January 2022 as the third wave of the pandemic and the resultant restrictions by state governments kept flyers away from air travel, Icra said on Tuesday. The domestic passenger volume in December 2021 was recorded at 112 lakh. The rating agency said it is expecting the recovery process to remain subdued during March quarter and that the jet fuel prices continue to be a drag on the sector. The passenger traffic declined 17 per cent last month over 77 lakh passengers transported by domestic airlines on local routes in January 2021, Icra 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.
The government has reduced the windfall profit tax levied on domestically-produced crude oil as well as on the export of diesel and ATF, in line with softening international oil prices, according to an official order. The levy on crude oil produced by companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has been cut to Rs 1,900 per tonne from Rs 2,100 per tonne, the order dated January 16, said. Crude oil pumped out of the ground and from below the seabed is refined and converted into fuel like petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF).
In a bid to slash costs, Air India has hedged 10,000 barrels of jet fuel for its aircraft this month, four weeks after its Board gave a nod to the move.
Refuting all the allegations, IOC has clarified that no monopolistic situation exists in supply and pricing of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to airlines.
With fewer passengers airlines bracing for a rise in operating costs due to a spike in crude prices
Most of them had to wind up operations due to high operating cost, expensive fuel and longer than expected gestation period.
In the next quarter, the country will also start gearing up for various Assembly elections could put the government as well as the OMCs under pressure
Since international oil prices have fallen, the government's subsidy payout will fall by almost Rs 50 per cylinder to Rs 240.
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing on Saturday said it continues to support the ongoing investigation into the Air India Flight AI171 crash, hours after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its preliminary report on the incident that occurred in Ahmedabad.
'If an airline is willing to get the funding, it will fly in unviable routes.'
Domestic air passenger traffic jumped 57 per cent to around 49 lakh in July, reflecting a significant sequential as well as year-on-year growth amid a decline in coronavirus infections, according to a report. Recording continued recovery, traffic rose 56-57 per cent to 48-49 lakh in July compared to June this year when it was about 31.1 lakh. As against June 2020, the growth is 132 per cent, rating agency Icra said in the report on Thursday.
Pilot groups have accused the AAIB of portraying the pilots as responsible for the incident, with vague and selective presentation of cockpit conversations.
InterGlobe Aviation, the operator of India's leading airline IndiGo, delivered a better than expected performance across most parameters in Q2FY24. The company posted its fourth consecutive quarter of net profit of Rs 188 crore. It had reported a loss of Rs 1,583 crore in the same quarter a year ago.
The only fuel that showed growth was LPG as the government dole of free cooking gas cylinders to poor households fired up consumption by 21 per cent during April 1 to 15.
The 31st meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, held in December 2018, deferred a decision to reduce the GST rate for cement from 28 per cent to 18 per cent. This was despite recognising that cement - along with automobile parts - remained among the few mass-consumption items still taxed at the highest slab, which was originally meant for luxury and sin goods.
Govt says domestic carriers' financial health a concern.
The government has not taken any decision to privatise Air India, however, it was close to finalising a short-term strategy to strengthen the burgeoning civil aviation sector, including slashing taxes on jet fuel.
The Centre has garnered around Rs 2,500-3,000 crore in the first five weeks after it imposed a windfall tax on oil and gas companies for the export of fuel, Business Standard has learnt. It is likely that the government will continue with the one-time tax till the Indian crude basket is above $80 a barrel, sources said. The next review of the windfall tax on oil companies is early next week.
Rising fuel prices, intense competition and inability to pass on spiralling expenses have been negatively impacting the domestic airlines.
The Supreme Court has criticized the selective publication of a preliminary report on the Air India crash, calling it 'unfortunate and irresponsible'. The court raised concerns about privacy, dignity of victims' families, and the potential for biased narratives.
The three state-owned oil companies have decided to defer snapping fuel supplies to Air India. The airline owes the three firms over Rs 5,000 crore in past fuel bills.
Shares of low-cost airline IndiGo hit record high on the bourses soon after reports of pilot crisis at Vistara emerged. The development also saw airfares surge by around 25 per cent on select routes. Shares of IndiGo hit a lifetime high of ~3,68.5 on April 2, 2024, and has gained 2.4 per cent on the bourses in April.
India must address issues that are plaguing its aviation sector.
Made from Jatropha crop, the fuel has been developed by the CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun.
The government has cut windfall gains tax on domestically-produced crude oil to nil while continuing the rate at zero on the export of diesel and ATF. The government has slashed the special additional excise duty (SAED) on crude oil produced by companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to nil from Rs 4,100 per tonne with effect from Tuesday, an official order dated May 15 said. This is the second time that the levy, which was introduced in July last year in the form of a cess to tax supernormal gains of oil producers and fuel exporters, has been cut to nil for domestically-produced oil.
The government has brought back the windfall profit tax on domestically produced crude oil after international prices firmed up while the levy on export of diesel has been cut to nil, according to an official order. The levy on crude oil produced by companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is now Rs 6,400 per tonne with effect from Wednesday, the order dated April 18 said. At the last revision on April 4, windfall tax on domestically produced crude oil was cut to nil as international oil prices dipped below $75 per barrel.
Vistara launched first flight from Hyderabad to New Delhi on Sunday.
The price of subsidised cooking gas was on Tuesday hiked by over Rs 2 per cylinder, the sixth increase in rates in five months, while that of jet fuel was raised by a steep 7.3 per cent in step with global trends.
IndiGo share price today: IndiGo share price fell as much as 4.8 per cent to a low of Rs 4,275 per share on the BSE in Monday's intraday trade as investors booked profit in the stock post a its April-June quarter (Q1) results for financial year 2024-25 (FY25). The stock ended 1.36 per cent lower at Rs 4,430 as against a 23-points gain in the benchmark BSE Sensex. The selling also got exacerbated as the management commentary, post Q1FY25 results, highlighted that inflationary pressure could likely dent July-September (Q2FY25) performance.
Air travel will now become a little expensive as the government has decided to increase the lower limit on airfares by five per cent amid rising aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday. The upper limit on airfares will remain as it is for now. Just a month back, the Centre had increased the lower and upper limits on domestic airfares by 10-30 per cent due to rising ATF prices. While announcing resumption of scheduled domestic flights in May last year, the aviation ministry had placed limits on airfares through seven bands classified on the basis of flight duration.
No immediate comment was available from airlines on the impact of the price hike on passenger fares.
'Visualise those 15 to 18 seconds: Fully loaded aircraft, pilot manually controlling with both hands (no autopilot immediately after takeoff), looking forward while switches are behind.'
Jet Airways on followed its smaller rival SpiceJet and hiked fares by a steep 25 per cent to mitigate the impact of the sharp fall in the rupee value and a near 15 per cent spike in oil prices of late.
At a meeting with airline chief executive officers and top officials here, the Civil Aviation Ministry also decided to amend Aircraft Act and Rules to safeguard the interests of aircraft leasing companies, many of which have started imposing stringent conditions for leasing planes to Indian carriers in the aftermath of Kingfisher Airlines shutting down.
The demand for black oils and specialty products like fuel oil, bitumen, petcoke and sulphur has also shown marked improvement, facilitating increase of refineries throughput.
