Saturday, April 20, 2024
The jet fuel price has gone up by 130 per cent in the last 18 months in Bangladesh — a major setback for the already struggling aviation industry of the country.
The price of jet fuel now stands at Tk 106 per litre after Padma Oil Company, a subsidiary of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), increased the price by Tk 6 a litre on Sunday.
Earlier in April, the price of jet fuel was increased by Tk 13 per litre while in December 2020, the price of jet fuel was only Tk 46 per litre.
According to aviation insiders, the industry has been struggling after the Covid-19 pandemic. Several meetings were held to fix the price of the jet fuel but nothing worked. This will eventually hike air travel costs, becoming a burden for passengers.
“The hikes in fuel prices are enough to pull down the Bangladeshi airline companies,” Kamrul Islam, general manager of US-Bangla Airlines told The Business Post recently.
“To balance operational costs, we have to hike the ticket prices when jet fuel price goes up. Because around 40 to 46 per cent of an airliner's operational cost is spent on fuel. Besides, competitor foreign airline companies provide tickets at lower prices compared to us,” he added.
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation Chairman ABM Azad told the media that the price of all products has increased due to the Russia-Ukraine war. The price of jet fuel has also increased for the same reason.
“Jet fuel still costs less in Bangladesh compared to that in India,” he added.
