KATHMANDU, JUNE 20

The Nepal Oil Corporation's decision to hike prices of petroleum products will lead to increase in airfare as well as road transport fare, which in turn is likely to lead to surge in prices of other commodities.

Following the NOC decision, petrol will now cost Rs 199 per litre , an increase of Rs 21 a litre, diesel and kerosene will cost Rs 192 per litre each, an increase of Rs 27 a litre, and domestic aviation fuel will cost Rs 19 more per litre. The new prices came into effect today.

The surging fuel prices will dent consumers' purchasing power, with those living in abject poverty and in rural areas being the hardest hit.

'Because of our challenging topography, air travel is the best mode of transportation for those living in rural areas - for commuting as well as for logistical purposes,' explained President of National Consumers Forum Prem Lal Maharjan.

But after the NOC hiked the price of domestic aviation fuel, domestic airline operators have also announced a hike in airfares across the country with effect from Wednesday.

According to the new airfare list of Airline Operators' Association of Nepal, the fare of the longest domestic flight of 83 minutes in the Kathmandu-Dhangadi sector has been set at Rs 16,805, an increase of Rs 840 in fuel surcharge.

The airfare of the shortest air route of Kathmandu-Simara has been fixed at Rs 4,195, an increase of Rs 170 in its fuel surcharge.

The airport fee has also been increased by Rs 500 at international airports and by Rs 400 and 300 at other airports.

'The decision of airline operators will primarily affect those living in the Himalayan region who rely on air transport for all their basic necessities,' said Maharjan, adding, 'These people have been found to dish out more than Rs 10,000 for a single cylinder of cooking gas, which retails at Rs 1,800 per cylinder in the domestic market. Airfare hike will only exacerbate their woes.'

AOAN Spokesperson Yog Raj Kandel Sharma said the increase in airfares was determined through an automated system which sets the new price of fuel surcharge and has been approved by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). 'As NOC increased the price of aviation fuel, we didn't have any choice,' he said, adding the airline companies were caught between a rock and a hard place because on the one hand their operation cost had gone up and on the other, they could lose passengers due to the increase in airfare.

Former director general of CAAN Raj Kumar Chhetri opined that the current situation is the result of government apathy.

'It's obvious the private sector will not operate at a loss and it's true that the whole world is going through a series of crises, but if the government provided some subsidy to airline operators, perhaps they would not have to make such hard decisions.'

But it is not only air travellers who will see a bigger hole in their wallets as the Department of Transport Management has increased fares for long-distance public vehicles by 5.3 per cent, freight vehicles operating along the hilly and Tarai region by 6.94 per cent and 7.7 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, protests were organised outside Tri-Chandra College against NOC's decision to hike fuel prices, which resulted in clash with police personnel.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 21, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.