Jet, Kingfisher hike air fares; AI to follow soon

Air travellers will have to shell out more for their tickets from today with Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and their no-frill subsidiaries hiking fuel surcharge by Rs 400 each on all domestic sectors and Air India indicating it will soon follow suit.

The rise in fuel surcharge came in the wake of a 33 per cent increase in the prices of air turbine fuel (ATF) over the past three months, the airlines said.

For Jet Airways, the hike would take the total fuel surcharge on a ticket below a distance of 750 km to Rs 2,450 and beyond that to Rs 3,400. For its no-frill subsidiaries Jet Airways Konnect and JetLite, it would be Rs 2,150 and Rs 3,100, respectively.

A Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson said the hike would apply uniformly for flights across all distances and all classes of travel, including subsidiary Kingfisher Red.

The increase has been made effective by all these carriers for bookings from Wednesday.

An Air India spokesperson said "We are also seriously contemplating an upward revision in fuel surcharge in view of the continuous increase in ATF prices" and a decision was expected in a couple of days.

Air India currently levies fuel surcharge of Rs 1,950 and Rs 2,700 on air tickets up to and beyond 750 km, respectively.

Officials of no-frill carriers IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir were mulling their options saying they were yet to take a decision. These carriers currently charge Rs 2,000 as surcharge.

The increase in fuel surcharge comes following an over 12 per cent rise in ATF prices by state-run oil firms on June 15 and over 33 per cent since March this year.

The international crude oil prices have firmed to a seven-month high of $72 per barrel on hopes of demand revival in the United States.