Opposing the reduction in prices on June 5 as a result of the government’s decision to cut Customs duty on the fuel from 10 per cent to 5 per cent, the oil marketing companies have raised prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) by 7 per cent.

ATF prices have been raised by 7.04 per cent in Kolkata, while prices in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai have gone up by around 4.35 per cent. On June 5, prices of the fuel were reduced by around 4.33 per cent.

Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) would now cost Rs 69,097.19 a kilo litre in Delhi, while in Mumbai it would cost Rs 71,630.53 a kilo litre.

Owing to the pressure of rising operating costs and the loss of crores of rupees to leading airlines like Jet Airways, the decision of increasing the jet fuel prices has been taken. According to the Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla, if the fuel prices continue to rise this way, these losses could double in the current fiscal.

Last month's increase initially led to carriers like Kingfisher and Air India hiking their fuel surcharge by Rs 300 to Rs 500 for short and long sectors, respectively. After that the Spice Jet hiked fuel surcharges in a similar manner and full-service carriers like Jet Airways and Air India also increased their minimum basic fare to Rs 1,000, Rs 2,250 and Rs 3,000, respectively.

Meanwhile the major airlines like IndiGo and Jet Airways, expressing their concern over the rise in prices, told that the decision to pass on the burden to consumers is yet to be taken. However, travel portals said they had no information of any fare rise from the airlines, and it was likely that the carriers would take a breather before increasing prices significantly.