Airlines rule out fare cut

Mumbai: Indian carriers today said they were not planning to revise fares at the moment, despite a 16 per cent cut in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices by the oil marketing companies (OMCs) from tomorrow.
“Fuel prices have to be stabilised below $80 for us to consider any pass-on,” a senior Air India official said.
The fuel surcharges compensate the airlines only to the extent of 40 per cent of fuel increase, the official said, adding, “over one year, there is a large uncovered gap between the increase in fuel costs and recovery by way of fuel surcharge.”
“For the time being, we don't want to change our pricing strategy,” Jet Airways' chief executive officer, Mr Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said.
The airlines want to see medium term development of ATF prices before taking a call on their price structure, Mr Prock-Schauer said.
“Even with this decrease, prices are significantly above the levels as compared to half a year,” he said.
Budget airline, SpiceJet said it was, too, early to take a call on the issue. “We need at least two to three months of stable ATF prices prior to revising our prices,” SpiceJet's chief financial officer, Mr Partha Sarthi Basu, said.
“We are studying the situation” was the response of a Kingfisher Airlines official.
Earlier in the day, in the biggest ever cut in jet fuel prices, state-run oil firms slashed aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices by over 16 per cent in line with softening international oil prices. The cut of Rs 11,784 per kilolitre is the single biggest reduction in the fuel price.
31/08/08 SNS & PTI/The Statesman

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Sep 2008