Air India will scale back its international operations till the end of July since surging jet fuel prices and airspace restrictions have made many routes unprofitable.
Air India CEO and managing director Campbell Wilson told employees in an internal communication that the airline had no choice “but to further trim schedules for June and July”, PTI reported.
Wilson said the airline had already reduced flights for April and May for the same reasons.
The West Asia conflict has not just raised jet fuel prices but also led to airspace restrictions that are forcing flights to take longer routes, increasing fuel consumption.
“We have reduced some flying for April and May.… Massive rise in jet fuel prices which, together with airspace closures and longer flying routes, have caused many of our international flights to become unprofitable to operate,” PTI quoted Wilson as telling Air India staff.
Wilson’s message comes just a few days after the Federation of Indian Airlines, which represents Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet, urged a revision in aviation turbine fuel.
The Federation also asked the government to provide financial support to the airlines, warning that the country’s stressed aviation sector was on the verge of stopping operations.
“We very much regret the disruption to our customers’ plans and our crew’s rosters, and hope that the Middle East situation settles — and the Strait of Hormuz opens — soon so that we can get back to a more normal state,” Wilson, who has announced plans to step down this year, said.
He acknowledged that domestic operations had been affected, too, but to a lesser degree because of government caps on fuel price increases.
“To partially compensate for the huge spike in costs, we have increased airfares and imposed fuel surcharges but, understandably, these higher airfares impact customer demand, so we can only raise fares so far before people decide to stay home,” Wilson said.
German carrier Lufthansa has decided to cut 20,000 short-haul flights through October because of the spike in jet fuel prices.
