Flight fare to go up in 2018 by 13 percent due to GST

Travelling by air is going to be a costly affair for travellers in 2018 as flight fare across almost all airlines is set to be hiked by 13 percent more. Many travel lovers must have already made a mental or material blueprint of the destinations they would want to visit for vacations this year. But before you go ahead with planning and preparations, be ready to pay more owing to the increased fuel prices and operational charges brought about by the GST.

Reportedly, there has been a surge in cost of operations for airlines by 27 percent after the government introduced GST in July 2017. However, the hike in fares will be more in case of last minute purchases, and not for customers buying their tickets in advance. "I do see fares increasing at half the rate of cost increase up to a limit. The increase in fares will be more in last-minute fares and advance purchase fares will remain cheap," an airline official told news daily. The official was reported as saying that the jet fuel cost rose by 16 percent and other operational charges also went up by 7 percent.


In New Delhi, fuel prices increased by more than 19 percent to INR 57, 460 per kilolitre in January from INR 48,110 per kilolitre in August, as per the data shared on the official webpage of Indian oil. According to the latest reports, airlines have to bear an additional burden of INR 4,750 crore annually due to the new toll imposed under GST.
In all likelihood, the fare hike will begin post March 2018, when peak travel season kicks-off, an airline official from a budget-friendly aircraft, told the news daily. The travel industry executives believe that the demand for air travel is likely to stay high in 2018.

Meanwhile, Sharat Dhall, COO, Yatra.com, said, "I do not see any major increase in fares at present levels of fuel price. We expect demand in 2018 to remain robust and capacity being added by airlines will be able to take care of the demand. However, things would change if fuel prices increase further from here.”