Patel to raise ATF price rise with PM

Patel said the airline industry has been suffering a lot due to the increase in fuel prices and have expressed their helplessness in dealing with the situation.     

The minister said he would make a presentation to the Prime Minister and Finance Minister P Chidambaram about the difficulties being faced by the airline industry due to the increase in fuel prices.     

"We are extremely unhappy over the ATF price rise and we are taking a serious note of it," Patel told reporters here. The minister said the airlines have also conveyed their inability to pass on the burden entirely on the customers.     

"Some airlines have informally told me that they are contemplating to either prune or rationalise their services. These are very serious issues the airline industry is facing and this shows that things are not well with the industry," he said.     

He said that unlike the past air travel is no more a luxury but a necessity and the hike in ATF prices would have a "multiplied effect".