Flyers' body seeks uniform, customer-friendly fare structure

Charging the airlines with hiking the cancellations fee by a whopping 300 per cent in the last four years, flyers' body APAI today asked the government to direct the carriers to formulate a uniform, transparent and customer-friendly fare structure.
Air Passengers Association of India (APAI), in a letter to the Civil Aviation Ministry, also sought reduction in fuel surcharge by the airlines, which came into being in 2008 after the oil prices jumped to USD 147.02 per barrel.
"It is also pertinent to note that the cancellation charges levied by airlines have gone up by more than 300 per cent in the last 4 years and this must be addressed specially when they (the airlines) have special low-fare offers," the APAI letter said.

Some of the airlines in the country charge fee for cancelling a ticket which is as high as Rs 5000 for international travel and Rs 1,750 for a domestic journey.
Private carrier Jet Airways had recently announced waiving off the cancellation charges both for domestic and international tickets but only when done within a stipulated time.
Noting that the per gallon fuel price has come down from Rs 183.06 to Rs 112.94 recently, the passengers body said, "It is a well-known fact that there has been a substantial reduction in the aviation turbine fuel (price) in the last one year."

Some of the airlines like AirAsia have already withdrawn the fuel surcharge from Monday while many other Asian airlines are slashing fuel surcharge due to the steep decrease in oil prices touching six year lows, it said.

"The airlines in India have got a fixed surcharge. While on one side this is unfair and needs to be corrected, it is important that all airlines merge the base fare and fuel surcharge to enable the passengers understand what is the cost of an air ticket," APAI said.
So far only budget carrier SpiceJet issues a ticket with all components merged into one, the letter said.

"We believe that all airlines should only have base fare which will be all inclusive, except the user airport development fee (UDF/ADF), passenger service fee and service tax, wherever applicable, which are based on the miles traveled and the cost of the fare mentioned in the ticket," it said.
APAI asked the Ministry to advise the airlines to have a uniform policy in the air fare structure, saying, "We are certain that the Ministry will formulate a policy by advising the regulator suitably on the issue."
The association also termed the transaction and convenience fee charged by the airlines for online bookings as "unjustified.