New Delhi, July 31: Leading domestic airlines have raised their fares by 5-10 per cent as state-owned oil firms today announced that they would increase jet fuel prices by 2.8 per cent.

While Kingfisher and Simplifly Deccan tonight said they would raise fares by 10 per cent across-the-board from tomorrow, Jet Airways said it, too, would raise prices from tomorrow by 10 per cent for the economy class and 5 per cent for the business class.

Air India will also raise fares by 10 per cent from tomorrow.

In Calcutta, jet fuel prices were raised to Rs 80,763.47 per kilolitre from Rs 78,641.65; in Delhi, to Rs 71,028.26 per kilolitre from Rs 69,097.19; in Mumbai to Rs 73,673.56 from Rs 71,630.53; and in Chennai to Rs 77,661.18 from Rs 75,505.25. The hikes are effective tomorrow.

Jet fuel prices in the country, among the most expensive globally, have risen by about 50 per cent since the start of the year because of soaring crude oil prices.

In India, jet fuels make up 45 per cent of an airline’s operating costs against 20 per cent for international carriers.

The Manmohan Singh government has set up a committee to recommend measures to help the domestic airline sector deal with losses, which are feared to double to nearly $2 billion in 2008-09.

Aviation fuels are subject to many levies, including a customs duty of 5 per cent, an excise duty of 8 per cent, a sales tax averaging 23 per cent and throughput charges imposed by airport operators.

The Federation of Indian Airlines in its recent report had said that fuel prices at Indian airports are approximately seven times higher than in Singapore, leading to substantial additional costs for airlines.

Following the dismantling of the administered price mechanism, jet fuel prices have been based on international import parity prices.