Airfares take off: up 40% in 3 years

New Delhi: The advertising bombardment by airlines offering cheap domestic fares has camouflaged the fact that air fares across routes have shot up 40% in the last three years.
Since March 2003, airlines have hiked fares 11 times by 8-10%. These included six hikes on basic fares and four on fuel surcharge. Not just this, a congestion surcharge of Rs 150 was slapped on all air tickets.
In March 2003, while the basic fare across carriers on the Delhi-Mumbai route was Rs 6,124, the total fare was Rs 7,350. Total fare included an insurance fee of Rs 250 and an internal air travel tax of 15% over the basic fare and a passenger service fee of Rs 200.
Today, the basic Delhi-Mumbai fare is Rs 8,565 and, after a passenger service fee of Rs 225 and a fuel surcharge of Rs 750 (IATT and insurance fee no longer exist), the total fare becomes Rs 9,540, a hike of about 30% (Rs 2,200). The Rs 300 fuel surcharge introduced in May was hiked four times in five months. It stands at Rs 750 now.
11/12/06 Atreyee Dev Roy/Financial Express

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