Praveena Sharma

Bangalore: Get ready to shell out more for air travel starting today with major domestic airlines hiking fares.

Till now, airlines have been adjusting their fares to aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices in the beginning of a month, when oil marketing companies announce their prices. But in a frantic bid to remain airborne, carriers have for the first time tinkered with ticket prices in the middle of the month.

On Thursday, SpiceJet and IndiGo increased their fuel surcharge by Rs300 and Rs500 per passenger on the short haul (up to 750 km) and long haul (beyond 750 km) routes respectively.

Though Jet Airways and national carrier Air India have left fuel surcharge untouched, they have hiked basic fares.

Jet has increased the average basic fare by 10%. Its CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said the fares for flights up to 750 km would thus go up to Rs1,000 per passenger and to Rs3,000 per passenger for flights beyond 750 km.

The basic fares of Jet’s value carrier JetLite have been raised to Rs500 on shorter routes and to Rs2,000 on longer routes.

This is in fact the second round of fuel charge and fare hike. SpiceJet had increased its basic fares by Rs300 and Rs550 earlier this month while IndiGo had steered clear of any revision.

The new imposition makes SpiceJet’s ticket costlier by Rs600 on shorter routes and Rs1,050 on longer routes as compared to May.

“We don’t expect any respite in the fuel cost with oil prices only shooting up. This (increase in fuel levy) will take up our average fare across all sectors by Rs400 per passenger and will be help us improve our yields,” said SpiceJet Ltd chief financial officer Parthasarthy Basu.

Air India spokesperson Jitendra Bhargava said the hike in prices will vary depending on the minimum base fare and distance.

“We have fixed a minimum base fare for three slabs – up to 750 km, between 750 km and 1,000 km and beyond 1,000 km,” he said.

Though Kingfisher Airlines has not announced a fare revision, an airline spokesperson said Vijay Mallya was “examining the option and is expected to take a view shortly".

Airlines have been trying to save their bottomlines by cutting capacities, frills and loading on several charges into their fares. Rising cost of air travel has hit demand, forcing them to slash their flight schedules drastically.

Apart from increasing ticket prices, both SpiceJet and Air India will also be pruning their flight schedules. “We will also be going in for a minor cut in our [flight] frequencies shortly,” informed Bhargava of Air India.

Source : DNA