Staff Reporter :
After being thrust into crisis by the Covid-19 pandemic, the country’s aviation industry is now facing massive thrust for abnormal jet fuel price hike.
The industry insiders said the authority of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has increased the fuel price to Tk 111 from Tk 48 per litre or 141 per cent in last 19 months.
The frequent enhancement of the jet fuel price may create negative impact on the domestic aviation industry that is struggling to rebound from shocks of the pandemic, they said.
They said they are not being able to adjust fare price due to passenger shortage as off session is going on.
Padma Oil Company Limited, a subsidiary of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), on Sunday raised price of jet fuel by Tk 5 to Tk 111 per litre for domestic flights.
Surprisingly, the cost of jet fuel for international flights remains unchanged.
Local airlines operating domestic flights would suffer significant blows as a result of this jet fuel price hike.
The sector insiders said that passengers flying domestic would have to spend more money owing to the price hike.
Padma Oil Company has raised jet fuel prices for the 15th time in 19 months, according to sources in different airlines in the country.
Late last month, the price of jet fuel for both international and local flights was raised by Tk 6 per litre.
The price of jet fuel, which accounts for up to 46 percent of an airline’s operational costs, was Tk 48 per litre in December 2020. Mofizur Rahman, Secretary General
of Aviation Operators Association of Bangladesh (AOAB) and Managing Director of Novo Air, said that there is no rationale to BPC’s decision to raise jet fuel prices when the price of jet fuel in the world market remains stable.
“BPC is making a monopolistic choice to raise the price of aviation fuel and we have nothing to say about it,” he alleged.
“By what logic did BPC raise the price of jet fuel for solely domestic flights?” he questioned.
“Overall, the aviation sector is under pressure right now for a variety of reasons, including regular hikes in jet fuel price, which accounts for 40 to 46 per cent of an airline’s operational costs,” Kamrul Islam, General Manager (Public Relations) of US-Bangla Airlines told The New Nation on Sunday.
He also said BPC increases jet fuel prices virtually every month.
However, if we raise the ticket price proportionally, we risk losing passengers.
“On the contrary, air carriers are at risk of going bankrupt if we do not raise air fares in step with the increase in jet fuel price,” Kamrul added.
If the aviation business fails, the tourist and hospitality sectors, which employ 40 lakh people, will also fail, he added.
