Air travel became costlier from Tuesday with major Indian carriers hiking fuel surcharge on tickets, ranging from Rs 150 to Rs 250 for domestic travel and $15 (Rs 825) for a one-way international ticket, following an almost eight per cent increase in jet fuel prices.
While Air India introduced the increased fuel surcharge on Tuesday itself, Jet Airways and its subsidiary JetKonnect would raise it from Wednesday, officials of both airlines said.
Under the new regime, an increase of Rs 150 in the surcharge would be applicable on all sectors less than 1,000 kms and Rs 250 for those beyond that distance. A blanket hike of $15 would be effected on all one-way international tickets.
The
domestic fuel surcharge for a distance of over 1,000 kms so far was Rs 3,250, which would now go up to Rs 3,500. The surcharge so far was Rs 1,600 on a ticket for less than 1,000 km distance.
A Jet Airways spokesperson said the hike in fuel surcharge would be effective from Wednesday, while an Air India official said the increase has been effected on all bookings from Tuesday.
Officials of no-frill airlines, like IndiGo and SpiceJet, remained tight-lipped about when they would give effect to the hike but were of the opinion that this steep rise in jet fuel prices would hit their financial bottomline.
"We are studying the impact of a steep hike of aviation turbine fuel prices on our operational costs which are high in any case. We are studying the situation and may take a decision soon," one of the airline officials said, requesting anonymity.
The increase in fuel surcharge was necessitated following the steep rise in the price of aviation turbine fuel by 7.6 per cent last week, the officials said.
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