Thaindian News

New Delhi, Dec 5 (IANS) A few days after state-owned Air India slashed fares by reducing its fuel surcharge by Rs.400 for all routes, Jet Airways Friday decided to cut fuel surcharge across all domestic sectors by the same amount from Saturday.However, there was no reduction in basic fares.

Both Jet Airways and its wholly- owned subsidiary JetLite cut fuel surcharge by Rs.400 across all domestic sectors, an airlines spokesperson said.

“There is no cut in basic fares in Jet or JetLite,” the spokesperson said.

The fuel surcharge effective from Saturday would be Rs.1,950 for flights on sectors less than 750 km and Rs.2,700 beyond that, the spokesperson said.

Domestic carriers presently charge fuel surcharge of Rs.2,350 per passenger flying up to 750 km and Rs.3,100 for those flying beyond 750 km in India.

The reduction in the fuel surcharge comes after a recent decline in jet fuel prices. State-run oil companies cut jet fuel prices Nov 15 by over 12 percent to a 14-month low.

Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices were slashed by over Rs.5,580 per kilolitre to Rs. 38,163.23 per kilolitre in Delhi from that prevalent in September 2007.

The fare cuts follow Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel’s comments that India’s airlines should cut fares now that jet fuel prices have eased.

ATF prices, which account for nearly 35 percent of an airline’s operating costs, have dropped by nearly 50 percent since hitting a high of Rs.73,673.56 a kilolitre in August.