International flights may take detour for tanking up

New Delhi: Since Indian aviation turbine fuel prices are among the highest in the world, airlines were asked to consider flying to some nearby countries by taking some expensive fuel from here and then tank up in those economic countries.
The places where airlines could consider taking a technical fuelling halt include the Gulf states, former CIS republics and Iran. Although foreign flights get aviation turbine fuel (ATF) much cheaper than domestic ones in India, the base price of ATF is also very high here because of which airlines are considering this option.
A leading airline official said a nonstop India-US flights with a flying time of 16 to 18 hours requires nearly 150 tonnes of fuel which in India costs over Rs 60 lakhs. If the same plane goes via Dubai, it can do with nearly 16 tonnes of fuel from India at a cost of about Rs 8 lakhs. For the remaining 16-hour journey to US, the required 130-odd tonnes can be filled up in a place like Dubai for Rs 36 lakh. So the overall fuel cost is less by nearly Rs 16 lakh on each India-US flight. Multiplying this by two to three daily nonstop flights that airlines are already having or planning, the savings are enormous though the flight does not remain nonstop because of the technical halt," said a senior official of a leading airline.
26/06/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Foreign Jun 2008, Indian Aviation- In General Jun 2008