Aviation fuel prices are slashed; no benefit to air travellers yet

Bangalore: State-run oil marketing companies have decided to cut aviation turbine fuel prices by Rs 3,686-3,893 per 1 kilo litre in the four metropolitan cities with effect from Sunday.
However, domestic air travellers who currently pay a surcharge of Rs 750 per ticket, may continue to pay the same as airlines reeling under heavy losses may not pass on the cut to consumers.
Siddhanta Sharma, chairman and CEO of Spicejet concurred with the strategy adopted by his industry peers when he said: “We will take a call on October 4. We’ll study the impact of the past fuel hikes and current reduction and if there’s a difference we will pass it on the customer.”
Captain G R Gopinath, chairman of AirDeccan, was more circumspect. “We’ll wait for a month before taking a call. We are making losses, so we don’t think we can go for a reduction,” Gopinath said. A spokesperson for Indian said ATF prices have been volatile and so it would be prudent to wait.
30/09/06 Praveena Sharma/Daily News & Analysis

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