Staff Reporter :
Air travel is being costlier again, as the jet fuel prices have hiked again in the country. Increasing of price by Tk 6, the jet fuel price reaches Tk106 as Padma Oil Company, a subsidiary of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), did it.
Aviation sources said that the fuel constitutes around 40pc of the total running cost of an airline. As a result, the air travel will unavoidably become more costly. Sources from Aviation industry said that the decision would tremble the domestic aviation sector.
“Until the government takes initiatives to reduce jet fuel prices or gives necessary subsidies, the industry must have to face a dire consequence,” an official from a privately operated airlines said.
He said that the prices of jet fuel have so far been hiked 15 times in the past 18 months which the industry insiders considering an acute burden in their business.
Sources from the BPC said that the jet fuel prices was reviewed in every month, based on the average price of the international benchmark.
Besides, it depends on especially the neighbouring Indian jet fuel market, said one of the officials. They said that the new price list of jet fuel was updated on May 14 and was in effect since May 15.
As per the BPC sources, jet fuel costs Tk106 per litre for domestic flights and the international price of jet fuel stands at USD 1.09 per litre. It was USD 1.02 per litre in April.
Members of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) complained that BPC had been frequently raising fuel prices solely by citing the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war.
Officials from privately operated US-Bangla and NOVOAIR and public carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines said that jet fuel prices had risen by more than 130pc in the last year and a half which make their business tougher.
They said it was a big blow to the aviation industry in the country, and passengers would have to pay the ultimate price.
Kamrul Islam, General Manager of public relations at US-Bangla Airlines, said, “If the government fails to control jet fuel prices, domestic airlines will suffer financially and lose their position in the aviation market.”
Meanwhile, Lal Hossain, BPC Secretary, said, “The committee responsible for fuel prices has hiked the price of jet fuel, citing high import costs as the government offers no subsidies for jet fuel. In comparison to the Indian market, the jet fuel price here is not high.”
