The advertising bombardment by airlines offering cheap domestic fares has camouflaged the fact that air fares across routes have shot up 40 per cent in the last three years. Since March 2003, airlines have hiked fares 11 times by 8-10 per cent. These included six hikes on basic fares and four on fuel surcharge. Not just this, a congestion surcharge of Rs 150 was slapped on all air tickets.

In March 2003, while the basic fare across carriers on the Delhi-Mumbai route was Rs 6,124, the total fare was Rs 7,350. Total fare included an insurance fee of Rs 250 and an internal air travel tax of 15 per cent over the basic fare and a passenger service fee of Rs 200. Today, the basic Delhi-Mumbai fare is Rs 8,565 and, after a passenger service fee of Rs 225 and a fuel surcharge of Rs 750 (IATT and insurance fee no longer exist), the total fare becomes Rs 9,540, a hike of about 30 per cent (Rs 2,200).

The Rs 300 fuel surcharge introduced in May was hiked four times in five months. It stands at Rs 750 now. ATF price had gone up 11 per cent from Rs 39,642 to Rs 43,989 a kilolitre. But, after September, ATF prices fell 17.8 per cent from Rs 43,989 to Rs 36,150 in December.