The High Cost of Flying

War-driven fuel shocks and airspace closures are forcing service cuts and sending airfares soaring, battering an aviation sector already burdened by weak balance sheets

- By AVISHEK G. DASTIDAR

It is a paradox that the Indian aviation sector is still trying to resolve. Just when air travel had been peaking, and airlines were ordering more aircraft, when new airports were coming up even as older ones were being expanded, came a series of events that sent airlines headlong into turbulence. The repercussions of the war in West Asia, which erupted at the end of February, are in plain sight. It has led to a surge in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices, driving up operating costs for airlines. Airspace closures, on the other hand, have upended some of the world’s busiest aviation corridors, forcing airlines to reroute or cancel services.

Mumbai-based content strategist Sanchi Mehta faced that inconvenience firsthand, when she found that her flight to Hong Kong had been cancelled just weeks before a planned holiday with friends. Helpline staff told her the flight had been overbooked and advised her to seek a refund through the online travel agency, even as her friends remained booked on the same flight. With replacement fares far more expensive and her refund still pending, Mehta was forced to abandon the trip, despite having already paid for hotels and other travel reservations. Fares have escalated multifold, with the Abu Dhabi-Delhi route going up to around Rs 70,000, from Rs 10,000-15,000 earlier. The prices of India-US flights climbed from Rs 45,000-1 lakh to Rs 1.3 lakh-2.25 lakh, while Bengaluru-Frankfurt fares rose from around Rs 80,000 to Rs 1.9 lakh (see How Fares Surged).

LONG WAY ROUND