Due to a rapid spike in jet fuel prices and the rupee’s depreciation, which has also resulted in an increase in operating costs for already Covid-19-ravaged airlines, SpiceJet issued a warning on Thursday.
The airline added that they had no alternative but to raise fares “immediately” and that a minimum 10-15% increase in flight fares is to be expected. According to news agency PTI, Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director of SpiceJet, a minimum 10-15% increase in air rates is essential to ensure that costs of operations are better sustained.
He said that the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) had increased by more than 120 percent, which he claimed was “unsustainable.” He also called on the federal and state governments to step in and grant ATF tax relief.
Oil marketing companies have increased the price of ATF by 16.3%, bringing the price of the fuel to an all-time high of Rs.1.41 lakh per kilolitre in Delhi. ATF prices have risen every two weeks since 2022.
“Since June 2021, ATF prices have risen by more than 120 percent. This large increase is unsustainable, and both the federal and state governments must move quickly to cut ATF taxes, which are among the highest in the world,” he said.
“SpiceJet has endeavored to absorb as much of the impact of this fuel price increase, which accounts for more than half of our operating costs, as we could in the last few months,” he continued.
