Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), or jet fuel price, touched a record high after a price hike of 16.3 percent on Thursday. The price of aviation fuel has increased 91 percent in the last six months and almost doubled in 2022. ATF prices now stand at Rs 1.41 lakh per kilolitre in Delhi. In May, ATF prices were increased by 5 percent taking it to Rs 1.23 lakh per kilolitre in the national capital.

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Calling the massive increase in jet fuel prices "not sustainable", SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh said that domestic airlines have no choice but to raise fares.

"I see a minimum 10-15 percent hike in fares to sustain the cost of operations," he said, adding that ATF prices had increased by more than 120 percent since June 2021. He called for urgent action from the Union and state governments to reduce taxes on ATF.

Ajay Singh, CMD, SpiceJet

"We have in the last few months tried to absorb as much burden of this fuel price rise, which constitutes more than 50 percent of our operational cost, as we could. Weakening of rupee against dollar further significantly impacts airlines," he said.

At 1:00 pm, SpiceJet was down over 6 percent on BSE while InterGlobe Aviation (Indigo) had fallen over 4 percent.

The price of jet fuel has been rising since the beginning of this year, moving up from Rs 72,062 per kilolitre in January to Rs 1.41 lakh per kilolitre now.

India's fuel rates have seen a sharp surge in 2022 on the back of supply concerns amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and a rise in demand that came after relaxations in the pandemic-related restrictions.

India imports more than 80 percent of its oil requirements from other countries.

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First Published:Jun 16, 2022 9:24 AM IST