New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) State-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) Tuesday cut aviation fuel prices by Rs.1,974.29 or 3.04 percent a kilolitre (kl), effective from midnight Wednesday, as an appreciating rupee against the dollar made imports cheaper.
With this, the price of air turbine fuel (ATF) at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport will come down from Rs.64,882.11 to Rs.62,907.82 a kl.
Just a fortnight ago, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum had raised the price by 2.86 percent or Rs.1,805.44 per kl.
The rupee appreciated to Rs.49.50 per dollar from over Rs.52 per dollar a fortnight ago.
The latest cut is expected to reduce the burden on the aviation industry, with many airlines incurring losses due to the high cost of jet fuel.
“Any reduction in ATF prices is a welcome step. But there is still a long way to go in rationalizing our domestic ATF prices which are nearly 50-60 percent higher than that in our competing markets like Middle East and Southeast Asia,” Amber Dubey, director, aviation, at consultancy firm KPMG told IANS.
The ATF price accounts for nearly 50 percent of the operating cost of an airline. Jet fuel prices also vary from state to state which levy sales tax on the ATF in the region of 3 to 35 percent.
The OMCs revise ATF prices on every 1st and 16th of the month based on the average international crude oil price during the fortnight.
