Airline companies recoup the highest ASF by passing it on to the passengers by increasing the ticket prices.
Starting next month get ready to experience costlier air travel as Civil Aviation Ministry has decided to increase Aviation Security Fee (ASF) by 6.67 per cent to ₹ 160.
International passngers will see an even steeper. For international passngers ASF has been raised to 5.2 USD instead of 4.85 USD that is currently charged.
The hike comes amidst coronavirus induced depression in the aviation sectors. Almost all airlines are going through major cost cutting exercises. Employees have either seen pay cut or has been forced to go leave-without-pay. Weaker airlines are laying off their crew to cut costs.
Average occupancy on Indian domestic routes have been hovering in the range of just 50 to 60 percent since May 25 when flight operations were resumed.
Fee hike at such a time will further act as a dampener for the airlines struggling to stay afloat in this pandemic. A similar fee hike was carried out last year too when ASF was increased from ₹ 130 to ₹ 150.
