All major airlines in India including IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Akasa Air are likely to levy fuel surcharges on flight tickets after Air India's price hike, sources exclusively told NDTV Profit on Friday.
The potential hike comes as the middle east war between US, Israel and Iran wages on, putting pressure on global oil supply and sending crude oil prices soaring high.
Air India announced an increase in ticket prices on Tuesday on the back of escalating tensions in the middle east. The tensions are causing what the IEA defined as "biggest-ever oil market disruption".
Strait Of Hormuz closure has skyrocketed crude prices, the sources said. They added that IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa are doing internal discussions to levy fuel surcharge and likely to finalise plans soon.
The source emphasised that airlines cannot absorb the impact of high crude prices and on top of that, rupee's weakness against the US dollar is like a 'double whammy' for the industry.
Air India and Air India Express have currently imposed fuel surcharges on their tickets. The expansion of the fuel surcharge is underway in a phased manner.
"Since early March 2026, aviation turbine fuel (ATF), which accounts for nearly 40% of an airline's operating costs, has seen significant price escalation due to supply interruptions. In India, this pressure is amplified by high Excise Duty and VAT on ATF in major metro cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, magnifying the impact and placing substantial strain on airline operating economics," Air India had stated in its release.
The first phase of the expansion came into effect from March 12 onwards and imposes levies on domestic air travel and travel to SAARC countries.
Phase 2 of the levies will come into effect from March 18 onwards and essentially hikes fuel surcharges for flights to Europe, North America and Australia.
Dates of the inception of the third phase are yet to be announced, but will apply to Far East markets, namely Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea
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