'Industry On Verge Of Stopping Ops': Airlines' SOS To Centre
The Middle East crisis has rung alarm bells in India's aviation sector with many airlines raising concerns that they are on the verge of "stopping operations" due to high fuel prices. At least three airlines including the Tata-owned Air India have asked the government to revise the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF), which adds to about 40 per cent to an airline's operating cost.
"... Any ad hoc pricing (domestic vs international) and/or irrational increase in the price of ATF will result in insurmountable losses for airlines and will lead to grounding of aircraft, resulting in cancellation of flights," the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) said in a letter to the Civil Aviation Ministry.
