Jet Airways,Kingfisher hike fuel surcharge

Battling rising operating costs and liquidity pressure,Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines,as also their low-cost subsidiaries...

Battling rising operating costs and liquidity pressure,Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines,as also their low-cost subsidiaries,today hiked fuel surcharge on domestic flights by up to Rs 300 per passenger.

The increase in surcharge follows hike in Aviation Turbine Fuel last week. State-run oil companies had on April 15 raised prices of jet fuel for the third time in a month,by about 6.7 per cent.

Consequently,Jet and Kingfisher announced an identical hike of Rs 200 for sectors below 750 km and Rs 300 for over 750 km,which would also be applicable on flights of their budget carriers JetLite and Kingfisher Red. The hike would be effective midnight tonight. The Naresh Goyal-owned airline is in the midst of a restructuring exercise to cut costs,which may include closing down some of its sales offices in major cities. Reports also suggest that about 400 of Jets employees may lose jobs.

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For Jet Airways,the total fuel surcharge would now be Rs 3,000 for distances above 750 km and Rs 2,150 for below 750 km. The total fuel surcharge levied by Kingfisher now stands at Rs 3,250 and Rs 2,400.

A Kingfisher spokesperson told PTI that the decision followed successive increases in jet fuel prices. An Air India spokesperson said that the flag carrier had “no immediate plans” to revise fuel surcharge.

Another carrier SpiceJet also said that it was mulling over a hike in fuel surcharge for its flights. “We are also looking at increasing our fuel surcharge by Rs 200 and Rs 300 (for sectors below 750 km and over 750 km,respectively) in next few days,” a SpiceJet spokesperson said.