High flying

Mumbai, Aug. 7: Come tomorrow and you will have to pay Rs 150 more for your airline tickets.

Even when the airlines are fighting it out in the sky to give the best deal to the customer, they stand united when it comes to wrestling with the problem of soaring crude prices.

Since May 1, when Jet Airways introduced fuel surcharge on airfares and all other airlines followed suit, the surcharge is again being raised for the second time. This means you will have to shell Rs 650 per ticket as fuel surcharge.

Jet, Air Sahara and Indian announced on Friday that the fuel surcharge for domestic travel in business and economy classes was being revised upwards by Rs 150.

Air Deccan announced the price hike today. Kingfisher Airlines has also announced a similar hike in fuel surcharge.

SpiceJet officials said they would take a final decision later in the night. They are expected to follow suit.

Jet Airways has also increased to $14 the surcharge on tickets issued abroad for travel within India, while Indian has increased the surcharge to $14.50 for tickets purchased abroad or against dollar tariff within the country.

Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices have seen a continuous upward movement over the past five months.

On August 1, PSU oil firms had raised jet fuel prices in line with rising international crude rates. The jet fuel price in Mumbai rose by 2.5 per cent to Rs 43,826.43 per kilolitre from Rs 42,731.31 per kilolitre last month. It was about Rs 34,100 in August last year. Airlines said this increase in surcharge has been necessitated because of the continuing escalation in ATF prices.

The rise in jet fuel prices has been affecting their profitability and operations. Fuel accounts for almost 35 per cent of the operating cost.