Budget airlines prevent fare hike

New Delhi: At the first meeting of the CEOs of 11 airlines in Mumbai on Monday evening, the LCCs with able support from liquor baron-turned-aviator Vijay Mallya shot down a proposal by some full-service carriers to impose another hike in fuel surcharge on domestic air tickets.
The legacy carriers were of the view that the industry players must come together and effect another hike and a sizable one at that in fuel surcharge in an effort to trim industry losses.
One of the models presented was that a fuel surcharge of Rs 750 should be charged on any air journey of upto 1 hour. For air journey of between 1 and 2 hours, the fuel surcharge was proposed to be at Rs 1,000, and over Rs 1,000 for any journey that takes over 2 hours.
The proposal was immediately shot down by the low-cost carriers and by full-service Kingfisher Airline operator Vijay Mallya, who felt that such a hike doesn't make sense at a time when fuel prices are dropping, sources close to the development said.
18/10/06 Byas Anand/Times of India

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