New Delhi: The country’s largest airline, IndiGo, on Wednesday, April 1, announced revised fuel charges ranging from Rs 275 to Rs 10,000, which will push airfares higher for many domestic and international flights amid the rise in jet fuel prices.
The announcement from the country’s largest airline comes on a day when the Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices were revised, and the government decided to only partially hike the price by 25 per cent for the domestic flights.
From March 14 onwards, the airline has been levying fuel charges ranging from Rs 425 to Rs 2,300 on domestic and international flight tickets as the fuel prices jumped in the wake of the Middle East conflict.
“Although fully offsetting the fuel price increase would require substantial fare revisions, IndiGo has passed on a relatively smaller amount to customers, keeping in mind the consequential burden on them,” IndiGo said on Wednesday and regretted the inconvenience to passengers resulting from the fuel charges.
For domestic flights, the revised fuel charges will be Rs 275 to 950, and in the case of international flights, the fuel charges will vary from Rs 900 to Rs 10,000. The charges, which will depend on the distance, will be applicable from April 2.
The fuel charge will be Rs 275 for domestic flights on routes that are 0-500 kms long and Rs 400 for flights that fly 501-1,000 kms.
The amount will be Rs 600 for 1,001-1,500 kms, Rs 800 for 1,501-2,000 kms and Rs 950 for distances above 2,000 kms.
Currently, the airline levies a flat fuel charge on domestic flight tickets.
The airline said it was thankful to the government for the timely intervention, without which April 2026 fuel cost increases would have severely impacted the affordability of domestic air travel.
“For international operations, ATF prices have more than doubled in the last month, consequentially driving a significant impact on the airline’s operating costs on these routes,” the airline said in a statement.
In the Indian subcontinent, the fuel charges will be Rs 900 for up to 500 kms and Rs 2,500 for above 500 kms.
For GCC and Middle East services, the amount will be Rs 3,000 for up to 2,000 kms and Rs 5,000 for above 2,000 kms.
IndiGo said that for Southeast Asia and China, the fuel charges will be Rs 3,500 for up to 2,000 kms and Rs 5,000 for above 2,000 kms.
For Africa flights, the fuel charge will be Rs 5,000, and in the case of Greece and Turkey, it will be Rs 7,500.
The fuel charge will be Rs 10,000 for UK and Europe flights.
IndiGo said it would continue to monitor the situation and make relevant adjustments as and when appropriate.
Air India, Air India Express and Akasa Air, which had also started levying fuel surcharges last month, did not announce any changes on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, a government official said the decision on a limited hike in jet fuel price ensures that carriers’ domestic operational costs remain manageable and will not lead to additional fuel surcharge.
ATF accounts for around 40 per cent of an airline’s operational costs.
Earlier in the day, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the decision by PSU oil marketing companies, under the Ministry of Petroleum in consultation with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, to implement only a partial and staggered increase of 25 per cent (Rs 15/litre) for domestic airlines is both pragmatic and forward-looking, while ensuring that foreign routes bear the full market-aligned price.
Airlines are already incurring higher operational costs due to the airspace restrictions in the Middle East region amid the conflict. The situation is forcing carriers to take longer routes for international flights, resulting in increased fuel burn.
ATF price was increased by 8.5 per to Rs 1,04,927.18 per kl for domestic airlines. The ATF price for domestic airlines in Delhi was hiked by Rs 8,289.04 per kilolitre, or 8.56 per cent, to Rs 104,927.18 per kl, according to state-owned oil firms. The rate compares to Rs 96,638.14 per kl last month.
Domestic airlines will pay half of what foreign airlines, as well as other carriers such as non-scheduled, ad hoc, and charter, would pay. For them, prices have gone up by Rs 110,703.08 per kl, or 114.5 per cent, to Rs 207,341.22 per kl.
The increase for domestic airlines came to only 8.56 per cent or Rs 8.3 per litre (Rs 8,289.04 per kl equals about Rs 8.3 per litre). While the ministry did not elaborate on its calculations, the quantum indicated – 25 per cent, or Rs 15 per litre – may be the total increase that oil companies may have decided to pass on to domestic airlines over a certain period of time.
Pricing of ATF was deregulated in 2001.
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