125. Taxes make Indian airfares three times higher than China. P S Remesh Chandran

125

Taxes make Indian airfares three times higher than China

P. S. Remesh Chandran

Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum

 Article Title Image By Skeeze. Graphics: Adobe SP.

All Indian airline companies are undergoing hard times due to reasons including heavy taxation by the Indian government, skyrocketing of aviation fuel prices and fall of the value of Indian rupee. Even while the cost of Indian air travel is nearly thrice that in the Chinese Republic, fall of rupee value by four rupees within a month has led to a further rise of over 20% in the cost of airline tickets. 23% fall of rupee against the dollar certainly has affected harshly the airline industry.

Travelling from India to America, Britain, France and the African continent has lost its attraction for tourists. Their numbers have dwindled during the recent months. It is true, domestic travellers in India do not have to face much hardship due to rupee’s fall. The India government considers and seems to think that it is good to let travellers spend money in Indian locations during their holidays. There are still a few countries to which tourists can travel without worrying about the fall of rupee and they are the other Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Mauritius and China. Certainly it is now a great opportunity for Indians to tour China if they are fortunate enough to secure a visa. All the airline companies operating from India including Air India, Indian Airlines, King Fisher and Jet Airways have hiked ticket prices to domestic tourist travel destinations also. Even if the fuel prices come down considerably, aviation companies in India won’t get the benefit of it due to the fall of rupee. There surely will be a decline in the price of crude oil as the world is moving again towards a financial crisis which would reduce the consumption of oil. As more and more depositors in the oil industry begin to withdraw their money from crude oil, the prices will come down again. Unless the exchange rate of rupee remains stable, Indian airline companies will not be allowed to enjoy the benefit.

Article Title Image By Karl Köhler. Graphics: Adobe SP.  

Aviation field in India is already in turmoil following the mismanagement and managerial indiscipline in the state owned service Air India. They were not able to settle the strike of their Pilots. Only 40% of their international services are operated now which means they are suffering a loss of nearly 20 crore rupees a day which they cannot afford without loosing their wings. The arrogant management of Air India dismissed hundreds of their able pilots and is thinking about recruiting retired pilots. We all know that airlines retire their pilots at a desirable age and at a particular health and efficiency level. This they do to avoid judgment errors during take-off, landing and flight and to ensure flight safety. This decision of Air India to dismiss able pilots and engage retired ones is an open challenge to air safety in India and is setting a very bad example in India aviation industry. It is sure in the immediate future, when Air India planes traverse the sky, people will run away to seek shelter, not to mention the destiny of thousands of human souls aboard.

Article Title Image By Holgi. Graphics: Adobe SP. 

[In response to news article ‘Indian airfares 200-300 per cent higher than China’ on 11 June 2012]