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).
Air fares are set to go up again, with the government announcing an over 18 per cent average increase in the prices of aviation turbine fuel, effective Saturday midnight.
Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines may move towards a second round of mergers and acquisitions as smaller low-cost airlines and other rivals, hurt by rising fuel prices, seek an exit from the business to cut losses, an industry expert said. State-run oil firms have hiked jet fuel (aviation turbine fuel) prices by 18.5 per cent in line with rising international crude oil prices.
International oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell is all set to foray into distribution of Aviation Turbine Fuel, fuel for airplanes.
Aviation turbine fuel prices in Delhi were slashed by Rs 2,052 per kilolitre to Rs 27,106 per kl, effective midnight on Saturday, an official of Indian Oil Corporation, said. But for the one-off 3.3 per cent increase in rates on January 16, jet fuel prices are declining in tandem with the fall in international oil rates.
Public sector oil companies on Sunday slashed jet fuel or Aviation Turbine Fuel prices by 3.7 per cent, the tenth reduction since September. ATF prices in Delhi were slashed to Rs 29,158 per kilolitre, effective midnight tonight, an official of Indian Oil Corporation, the nation's largest fuel retailer, said. The fuel used by airlines till today was priced at Rs 30,288 per kilolitre. After today's Rs 1,130 a kilolitre reduction, jet fuel is priced at early 2005 levels.
Jet fuel or ATF prices in Delhi were slashed to Rs 30,288 per kilolitre, effective Saturday midnight, an official of Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer, said. But for the 3.3 per cent increase in rates on January 16, jet fuel prices have been reduced for the ninth time on Saturday since September 1, 2008 when international crude oil prices started to decline.
While LPG price was raised by Rs 18, kerosene saw a hike of Rs 3 per litre
As a result of crude oil prices falling to a four-year low of around $40 a barrel last fortnight, public sector oil companies today cut aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices by 11 per cent. The rates will be effective this fortnight. The current rates were set on December 1. This is the seventh consecutive cut in ATF prices since September.
IndiGo operates 125 flights across 17 destinations with a fleet of 19 brand new Airbus A-320 aircraft. For the full service carrier, Kingfisher, the drop on flights up to 750 km will be Rs 400 to Rs 1,950 from Rs 2,350 earlier. Fares for travelling above 750 km will be down to Rs 2,700 from Rs 3,100.
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.
Jet fuel prices on Monday were hiked by a steep 6.5 per cent on the back of a rally in international oil prices. Aviation turbine fuel or ATF price was hiked by Rs 3,663 per kilolitre, or 6.5 per cent, to Rs 59,400.91 per kl in the national capital, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. This is the third increase in jet fuel prices since February. Rates were increased by 3.6 per cent on February 16, and by Rs 3,246.75 per kl on February 1. The increase in rates will add to the margin woes of airlines who continue to operate flights at less than capacity, amid pandemic-driven travel restrictions.
On October 31, the government exempted jet fuel from 5 per cent import duty. Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum cut jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel price from November 1 in Delhi by Rs 9,429.87 per kl to Rs 47,017.93 per kl, in line with fall in international oil prices.
Indian is planning to start hedging its international fuel purchase in the wake of spiralling aviation turbine fuel cost that is eating into its profits
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.
Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, a subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, is considering plans to increase sales of aviation turbine fuel in the domestic market and cut down on exports gradually.
The inflation was 11.80 per cent a week ago. The index for fuel prices declined by 1.1 per cent on account of lower prices of naphtha, aviation turbine fuel and furnace oil.
The state-run oil firms will raise jet fuel price by Rs 1,338 per kl effective midnight tonight, an Indian Oil official said on Thursday.
Air Sahara on Tuesday announced a 10 per cent fare hike with effect from June 21 following an increase in the aviation turbine fuel price.
bp had last year bought 49 per cent stake in the 1,400-odd petrol pumps and 31 aviation turbine fuel stations owned by RIL for $1 billion.
However, domestic carriers said they are not looking at a decrease in airfares. The cut of Rs 11,784 per kilolitre will come into effect from September 1. They also said that the industry would be able to curtail 30 per cent of its monthly losses. Indian carriers are expected to make a cumulative loss of $2 billion in 2008-09.
Lower crude oil prices are expected to bring down jet fuel rates by 10 per cent in September, but passengers are unlikely to get the benefit as airlines are reluctant to reduce their fares.
Aviation Turbine Fuel or jet fuel in Delhi, the city that houses the nation's second busiest airport, costs $1,291 per kilolitre while the same in Singapore is sold at $1,067 per kl. It costs $1,100 per kl in Hong Kong and $1,113 in Colombo.
Aviation turbine fuel prices increased by 34 per cent whereas fares - on an average across the country - shot up by more than 65 per cent. Since fuel accounts for about 45 per cent of the total costs, the actual impact on airlines, in terms of increase in the cost of operation, would have been around 15 per cent. Airlines also cut capacity by 20 per cent during the period.
Jet fuel price in Delhi was cut by Rs 974 per kilolitre or 2.5 per cent to Rs 37,982 per kl effective midnight on Monday, an official of the Indian Oil Corporation, said.
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.
Domestic airlines will save around Rs 2,500 crore annually if they import aviation turbine fuel directly rather than buy it from state-owned oil marketing companies. This would help them shave off around 14 per cent of their burgeoning fuel bill and cut the industry's projected loss of Rs 8,000 crore for the current financial year by a little less than a third.
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 airline industry remained largely undecided on the exact quantum of increase in fares following the hike in ATF prices. Industry sources, however, said the prices might increase by Rs 150 for short haul routes and Rs 300 for long haul routes.
Indian airlines on Wednesday filled aviation turbine fuel (ATF) into the tanks of their aircraft at Rs 68,000 a kilolitre. Around the same time, ATF sold at $1,037.8 (Rs 41,500) a kilolitre at the Singapore airport -- full 39 per cent below Indian prices.
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.
State governments have raised serious reservations against a plea by the aviation ministry and domestic carriers to reduce sales tax on aviation turbine fuel. Worse still, states like Kerala which had reduced the tax rate from 28.5 per cent to 4 per cent to encourage carriers to buy from the state have decided to take back the benefit alleging that it is not being passed on to the customers as promised.
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.
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.
After the two hikes, the ATF prices had risen to above September levels, the official said. The three oil firms revise jet fuel prices on the first and the 16th day of every month based on the average global oil price in the previous fortnight.
Air travel is going to be dearer as major airlines have decided to raise the fares by at least 10 per cent besides increasing the fuel surcharge. The move by Air India, Jet Airways, Spicejet and Kingfisher comes in view of rise in prices of aviation turbine fuel by over nine per cent in line with the increase in international crude oil rates.
The Delhi government has requested airlines to come up with a detailed note on how decrease in sales tax on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) will lead to higher offtake of fuel from Delhi airport, before taking any measure for reduction in taxes. Airlines have been repeatedly making representations to the state government asking for a reduction in sales tax on ATF from the current 20 per cent to 4 per cent.
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.
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