In a move towards transparency in pricing of airfares, Kalanithi Maran's SpiceJet on Tuesday merged the 'fuel surcharge' component in airfares along with its base fares, to enable customers to calculate what portion of the ticket prices ultimately go to the airline.
While SpiceJet claimed to be the first Indian airline to display consolidated fares, it could not be independently verified, as IndiGo also began to display consolidated fares on its website by merging the fuel surcharge with base fare. The fare simplification had already been communicated to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, SpiceJet said.
GoAir, Jet Airways and Air India are yet to implement the changes. SpiceJet was recently rapped by DGCA recently after it introduced a special promotional offer of Rs 1 fare, which the regulator deemed was not transparent as it failed to mention 'fuel surcharge', which was computed separately by the airline in the offer to passengers.
During the recent and controversial Rs 1 offer from SpiceJet, passengers were confused as the tickets on sale included fuel surcharge under the Rs 1 scheme, while there were also normal tickets where the base fare was Rs 1 but fuel surcharge was extra. Typically, airfares have various components including base fare, fuel surcharge, various airport charges and taxes. Out of this, base fare and fuel surcharge goes to the airline while the other components go to the government and the airport operator.
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