Chennai: It can be said that it's cheaper to fly a plane than drive a car in Chennai! Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) in Chennai costs Rs 51 per litre, while petrol is priced at Rs 67.
The economics of flying a plane may be far different from using a car, but airlines may prefer Chennai to fuel their aircraft because ATF is priced lesser than it is in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.
ATF costs Rs 59 (Rs 59,602 per kilolitre) per litre in Mumbai, Rs 66 (Rs 66,909 per kilolitre) per litre in Kolkata and Rs 58 (Rs 58,779) per litre in Delhi.
Aviation sources say that this would not see airlines flying their planes to Chennai to refuel, but every flight that originates from Chennai may carry fuel for return flight also to avoid fuelling in other expensive destinations. ATF contributes 40% of the operation cost of a flight.
The procedure, which is popularly knowing as tankering in aviation parlance, is normally done on flights that fly short routes from an airport. For example, an aircraft scheduled to fly from Chennai to Kochi or Bangalore and back will take fuel for its return trip also if the load permits. Pay load, landing weight at the destination airport and the altitude at which the flight would be flying are factors that would be taken into account before tankering is done.
24/05/11 V Ayyappan/Times of India
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