Airline Companies Unhappy as Price of Aviation Fuel remains Unchanged

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Airline Companies Unhappy as Price of Aviation Fuel remains Unchanged

June 27: The Airline Operators Association of Nepal (AOAN) has expressed its displeasure over Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC)’s decision to reduce the prices of petroleum products except aviation turbine fuel (ATF).

A board meeting of NOC on Saturday decided to reduce the price of petrol by Rs 20 per litre and that of diesel and kerosene by Rs 29 per litre. However, it made no changes to the aviation turbine fuel.

The association drew that attention of NOC over its decision to adjust the fuel prices without changing the price of ATF for domestic and international flights.

AOAN in a statement said that the Nepali airline companies have been forced to purchase ATF at an excessively high rate compared to India because of the high amount of profit NOC makes in addition to the exorbitant taxes that the government imposes on petroleum products that are supplied by the Indian Oil Corporation free of taxes.

The association stated that the aviation sector was badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic due to which flights had to be suspended for almost 8 months. It further said that the arrival of foreign tourists has not improved much and the operating cost is too high.

“In such a situation, the airline companies are forced to make air tickets available at low-cost rates,” the statement said.

According to AOAN, fuel consumption accounts for 40 percent of the operation costs of airline companies.

“Countries like India and China have been providing 50 percent concession on ATF to the airline companies in their respective countries so that they can bounce back from the impact of Covid-19,” the statement further reads.

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