NEW DELHI: India is seeing rapid improvement in domestic air travel as the pandemic subsides. Country’s largest airline blue, is now operating more domestic flights on peak travel days such as weekends or holidays than it was before Covid due to increased connections to smaller cities.
But the cost of flight tickets could soon be higher as the combined pressure of rising jet fuel prices and a falling rupee has reached a point where airlines need to pass this increase in operating costs on to passengers in the form of higher fares. Is.
Indigo CEO Ronojoy Dutta told TOI on Wednesday: “In pre-pandemic times, we had around 1,600 daily flights, of which 400 to 450 were international. At present, we have about 1,400 daily flights of which about 80 are international. (These numbers vary from lean to peak travel days). The peaks are looking good. The government has allowed 100% domestic capacity and at present our bookings are 90-95% of pre-covid levels. ,
Meanwhile, preparing for the upcoming competition Indian water systemIndiGo has ordered new “improved, softer and more comfortable seats” for its entire fleet. “The order for the new seats has been placed,” Dutta said.
The two biggest consumer complaints with IndiGo, which are about 6 out of every 10 domestic passengers, are very lightly padded seats and cold food, not counting hot water in a cup for six minutes. Upma or Noodles.
IndiGo on Monday (November 8) recorded 227 crore domestic available seat kilometers (ASKM which is many times more than the number of seats available).
The previous high was 225 crores on March 16, 2020 – just before the pandemic when everyone was running home. While its highest (pre-Covid) daily domestic flight count was 1,455 and it is currently around 35 less than that number, the airline says the higher ASKM was achieved due to the increase in the number of aircraft with higher seating capacity .
But the continuous rise in Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices and depreciating rupee may now force airlines to avoid hike in fares.
“Crude oil has risen from $43 a barrel last October to $84 now. We need some relief in taxes. Fares need to reflect higher fuel price, higher operating cost (linked to falling rupee). Fuel is a problem and fares have to be brought higher,” said Dutta.
“Airlines around the world got some government help. We couldn’t find any, which is fine. But excise (11%) and other indirect taxes on fuel are very high in India. Airlines pay 21% indirect taxes and this is effectively the highest for any industry in India as we do not get input tax credit on fuel. This needs to be softened as we are an important infra player,” said Dutta.
IndiGo is going to start getting the Airbus A321 XLR (Extra Long Range) on which it will operate nonstop for seven hours in cities like Tel Aviv, Milan and Düsseldorf.
It is finalizing the product for these flights which will include new seats, ovens for hot meals and in-seat plug sockets so that passengers can charge their personal electronic devices on the go.
But the cost of flight tickets could soon be higher as the combined pressure of rising jet fuel prices and a falling rupee has reached a point where airlines need to pass this increase in operating costs on to passengers in the form of higher fares. Is.
Indigo CEO Ronojoy Dutta told TOI on Wednesday: “In pre-pandemic times, we had around 1,600 daily flights, of which 400 to 450 were international. At present, we have about 1,400 daily flights of which about 80 are international. (These numbers vary from lean to peak travel days). The peaks are looking good. The government has allowed 100% domestic capacity and at present our bookings are 90-95% of pre-covid levels. ,
Meanwhile, preparing for the upcoming competition Indian water systemIndiGo has ordered new “improved, softer and more comfortable seats” for its entire fleet. “The order for the new seats has been placed,” Dutta said.
The two biggest consumer complaints with IndiGo, which are about 6 out of every 10 domestic passengers, are very lightly padded seats and cold food, not counting hot water in a cup for six minutes. Upma or Noodles.
IndiGo on Monday (November 8) recorded 227 crore domestic available seat kilometers (ASKM which is many times more than the number of seats available).
The previous high was 225 crores on March 16, 2020 – just before the pandemic when everyone was running home. While its highest (pre-Covid) daily domestic flight count was 1,455 and it is currently around 35 less than that number, the airline says the higher ASKM was achieved due to the increase in the number of aircraft with higher seating capacity .
But the continuous rise in Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices and depreciating rupee may now force airlines to avoid hike in fares.
“Crude oil has risen from $43 a barrel last October to $84 now. We need some relief in taxes. Fares need to reflect higher fuel price, higher operating cost (linked to falling rupee). Fuel is a problem and fares have to be brought higher,” said Dutta.
“Airlines around the world got some government help. We couldn’t find any, which is fine. But excise (11%) and other indirect taxes on fuel are very high in India. Airlines pay 21% indirect taxes and this is effectively the highest for any industry in India as we do not get input tax credit on fuel. This needs to be softened as we are an important infra player,” said Dutta.
IndiGo is going to start getting the Airbus A321 XLR (Extra Long Range) on which it will operate nonstop for seven hours in cities like Tel Aviv, Milan and Düsseldorf.
It is finalizing the product for these flights which will include new seats, ovens for hot meals and in-seat plug sockets so that passengers can charge their personal electronic devices on the go.
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