Airfare hike a downer for all high-fliers

Mumbai: Flying just became dearer by more than 10% for the common man as Pranab Mukherjee brought both domestic and international air travel under the service tax net. This is coupled with the increase in custom duty on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to 10% from 5%.
“Till date only business/ first class passengers on international flights paid 10% service charge. Now, passengers travelling even in economy class on both domestic and international flights will be charged service tax,” said Ajay Prakash, national general secretary, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI).
So, a Mumbai-Delhi ticket that would cost you Rs5,910 on a full-service carrier (FSC) will now cost you Rs6,501. While a Mumbai-London ticket that cost you Rs22,066 will now cost you Rs24,272.
This fare increase, however, does not include rise in the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) the price of which is likely to increase by Rs1.20 to Rs1.50 per litre. At present the price of ATF is Rs45 per litre in Mumbai.
26/02/10 Naveeta Singh/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Feb 2010