Air India will be imposing fuel surcharge on domestic and international flights on bookings from Thursday onwards, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
The decision was taken in view of the rising prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) due to geopolitical instability in oil supply, it said in the statement.
It said that ATF accounts for nearly 40 percent of an airline’s operating costs, which has seen significant price escalation due to the geopolitical situation in the Gulf region.
“Air India Group today announced a phased expansion of a fuel surcharge on its domestic and international routes, necessitated by the steep rise in jet fuel prices arising from the geopolitical situation in the Gulf region,” it said.
In the first phase, the company will be levying a charge of Rs 399 on domestic flights and flights to the SAARC nations. Flights to the West Asian nations will face a levy of $10. Earlier, these flights did not face any fuel levy.
The company also increased the fuel levy on flights to Southeast Asia and Africa from $40 and $60 to $60 and $90, respectively.
In the second phase, the company will be raising the fuel levy on flights to Europe, North America and Australia from March 18 onwards.
While the fuel levy on flights to Europe will be raised from $100 to $125, flights to North America will face a levy of $200 from an earlier levy of $150. Flights to Australia, which face a levy of $150 now, will have a levy of $200 from March 18.
The company said that the levy of the third phase will apply to and from Far East markets, namely Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea, which will be announced in due course.
The company, India’s second largest flight operator after IndiGo, said that flights which are already booked will not face the revised fuel levy.
It also expressed regret over the decision to impose the levy.
“Air India regrets the need to increase fuel surcharges in this manner but emphasises that it is necessitated by factors outside its control. Absent such fuel surcharges, it is likely that some flights would be unable to cover operating cost and would have to be cancelled,” it said.
