Massive hike in Jet, Spice fares

The falling rupee and skyrocketing Air Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices are going to make a dent in the pockets of fliers with airlines  hiking airfares.

Jet Airways on Wednesday followed low-cost airline SpiceJet by increasing airfares by up to 25 per cent to offset the financial implications of the fall of the rupee against the dollar and the hike in fuel prices.

Air India chairman and Managing Director Rohit Nandan said: “Our rates were already high. It’s others who had to adjust their fares.”

Other airlines are tight-lipped about their plans.

Though there was no official word on the hike, Jet Airways officials said the airline has increased fares by 25 per cent. Kalanidhi Maran-owned SpiceJet had on Tuesday increased ticket fare by up to 30 per cent.

A falling rupee has been creating problems for the aviation sector in the country for some time, as the airlines have been incurring more losses than anticipated. Adding to the woes was the all-time high increase of 6.9 per cent in ATF prices.

ATF prices touched Rs 75,031 per kilolitre on September 1, the third hike in as many months. ATF prices were increased by Rs 3,617.84 per kl (5.8 per cent) on July 1, and by another Rs 4,169.4 per kl (6.3 per cent) on August 1. Earlier, rates had climbed to from Rs 62,649.95 to Rs 62,416.16 per kl on June 1.

Since May, there has been an increase of Rs 12,382.95 in ATF prices. In August, a kilolitre of ATF cost Rs 71,028.26.

Sharat Dhall, president of travel website yatra.com, said: “This rise will certainly be a big blow to demand in the upcoming festive and leisure travel season.”